MOF  UF  HOT 


THE  MIDDLE  FIVE 


.     THE  ,„, 
MIDDLE  FIVE 

Indian  Boys  at  School 
BY  FRANCIS  LAFLESCHE 


B  oston 

Small,  Maynard  &  Company 
1909 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
SMALL,  MAYNARD  AND  COMPANY 

(INCORPORATED) 


Entered  at  Stationer's  Hall 


THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS.,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 

THE  UNIVERSAL  BOY 


^59389 


Contents 


CHAPTEB  PAJ« 

PREFACE i* 

I.   THE  MISSION    . 1 

II.   BRUSH 15 

III.  EDWIN. 30 

IV.  LITTLE  BOB 45 

V.   WARREN  .     0 51 

VI.   LESTER 63 

VII.   THE    SPLINTER,   THE    THORN,   AND 

THE  KIB 77 

VIII.   FRAUDULENT  HOLIDAYS      ....  93 

IX.   WILLIAM  T.  SHERMAN 104 

X.   A  RUNAWAY 121 

XI.   A  NEW  STUDY 140 

XII.    PONKA  BOYS 152 

XIII.  THE  SECRET  OF  THE  BIG  SEVEN     .  163 

XIV.  A  REBUKE 182 

XV.   JOE 195 

XVI.   THE  BREAK  .                   ....  210 


PREFACE 

AS  the  object  of  this  book  is  to  reveal  the 
true  nature  and  character  of  the  In- 
dian  boy,  I  have  chosen  to  write  the  story  of 
my  school-fellows  rather  than  that  of  my 
other  boy  friends  who  knew  only  the  ab 
original  life.  1  have  made  this  choice  not 
because  the  influences  of  the  school  alter  the 
qualities  of  the  boys,  but  that  they  might 
appear  under  conditions  and  in  an  attire 
familiar  to  the  reader.  The  paint,  feathers, 
robes,  and  other  articles  that  make  up  the 
dress  of  the  Indian,  are  marks  of  savagery 
to  the  European,  and  he  who  wears  them, 
however  appropriate  or  significant  they  might 
be  to  himself,  finds  it  difficult  to  lay  claim  to 
a  share  in  common  human  nature.  So  while 
the  school  uniform  did  not  change  those  who 
wore  it,  in  this  instance,  it  may  help  these 
little  Indians  to  be  judged,  as  are  other  boys, 
by  what  they  say  and  do. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  a  continued 
story  with  a  hero  in  the  following  pages,  but, 
in  a  series  of  sketches,  to  present  the  com 
ix. 


Preface 

panions  of  my  own  young  days  to  the  chil 
dren  of  the  race  that  has  become  possessed  of 
the  land  of  my  fathers. 

This  introduction  is  a  genuine  one,  for 
all  the  boys  who  appear  in  these  sketches 
have  really  lived  and  played  a  part  in  the 
incidents  herein  recorded.  Each  little  actor, 
including  the  writer,  made  his  entrance  upon 
the  stage  of  life  in  the  "  tee-pee "  or  in  the 
dome-shaped  earth  lodge;  for,  in  the  years 
when  we  boys  were  born,  only  the  aboriginal 
dwellings  were  in  use  among  our  people,  the 
Omaha  tribe  of  Indians.  Like  all  the  in 
fants  for  countless  generations  in  the  line  of 
our  ancestry,  we  too  had  to  pass  through  the 
cradle-board  period  while  our  bones  "  ripened," 
as  the  Indians  say,  and  grew  strong  enough 
to  bear  the  weight  of  our  bodies.  When  at 
last  our  mothers  gave  us  liberty  to  creep  and 
to  toddle  about,  we  promptly  used  that  free 
dom  to  get  into  all  sorts  of  mischief  as  we 
explored  the  new  and  wonderful  world  in 
which  we  found  ourselves. 

Among  my  earliest  recollections  are  the  in 
structions  wherein  we  were  taught  respect  and 
courtesy  toward  our  elders ;  to  say  "  thank 
x 


Preface 

you  "  when  receiving  a  gift,  or  when  return 
ing  a  borrowed  article;  to  use  the  proper 
and  conventional  term  of  relationship  when 
speaking  to  another ;  and  never  to  address 
any  one  by  his  personal  name ;  we  were  also 
forbidden  to  pass  in  front  of  persons  sitting 
in  the  tent  without  first  asking  permission  ; 
and  we  were  strictly  enjoined  never  to  stare 
at  visitors,  particularly  at  strangers.  To  us 
there  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  the  things  we 
were  obliged  to  do,  and  to  the  things  we  were 
to  refrain  from  doing. 

From  the  earliest  years  the  Omaha  child 
was  trained  in  the  grammatical  use  of  his 
native  tongue.  No  slip  was  allowed  to  pass 
uncorrected,  and  as  a  result  there  was  no 
child-talk  such  as  obtains  among  English- 
speaking  children,  —  the  only  difference  be 
tween  the  speech  of  old  and  young  was  in  the 
pronunciation  of  words  which  the  infant 
often  failed  to  utter  correctly,  but  this  diffi 
culty  was  soon  overcome,  and  a  boy  of  ten  or 
twelve  was  apt  to  speak  as  good  Omaha  as  a 
man  of  mature  years. 

Like  the  grown  folk,  we  youngsters  were 
fond  of  companionship  and  of  talking.  In 
xi 


Preface 

making  our  gamesticks  and  in  our  play,  we 
chattered  incessantly  of  the  things  that  occu 
pied  our  minds,  and  we  thought  it  a  hard 
ship  when  we  were  obliged  to  speak  in  low 
tones  while  older  people  were  engaged  in  con 
versation.  When  we  entered  the  Mission 
School,  we  experienced  a  greater  hardship, 
for  there  we  encountered  a  rule  that  pro 
hibited  the  use  of  our  own  language,  which 
rule  was  rigidly  enforced  with  a  hickory 
rod,  so  that  the  new-comer,  however  socially 
inclined,  was  obliged  to  go  about  like  a  little 
dummy  until  he  had  learned  to  express  him 
self  in  English. 

All  the  boys  in  our  school  were  given  Eng 
lish  names,  because  their  Indian  names  were 
difficult  for  the  teachers  to  pronounce.  Be 
sides,  the  aboriginal  names  were  considered 
by  the  missionaries  as  heathenish,  and  there 
fore  should  be  obliterated.  No  less  heathenish 
in  their  origin  were  the  English  substitutes, 
but  the  loss  of  their  original  meaning  and 
significance  through  long  usage  had  rendered 
them  Jit  to  continue  as  appellations  for  civil 
ized  folk.  And  so,  in  the  place  of  Tae-noo'- 
ga-wa-zhe,  came  Philip  Sheridan;  in  that 
xii 


Preface 

of  Wa-pah'-dae,  Ulysses  S.  Grant;  that  of 
Koo -we-he-ge-ra,  Alexander,  and  so  on.  Our 
sponsors  went  even  further  back  in  history, 
and  thus  we  had  our  David  and  Jonathan, 
Gideon  and  Isaac,  and,  with  the  flood  of 
these  new  names,  came  Noah.  It  made  little 
difference  to  us  that  we  had  to  learn  the  sig 
nificance  of  one  more  word  as  applied  to 
ourselves,  when  the  task  before  us  was  to 
make  our  way  through  an  entire  strange 
language.  So  we  learned  to  call  each  other 
by  our  English  names,  and  continued  to  do 
so  even  after  we  left  school  and  had  grown 
to  manhood. 

The  names  thus  acquired  by  the  boys  are 
used  in  these  sketches  in  preference  to  their 
own,  for  the  reason  that  Indian  words  are 
not  only  difficult  to  pronounce,  but  are  apt  to 
sound  all  alike  to  one  not  familiar  with  the 
language,  and  the  boys  who  figure  in  these 
pages  might  lose  their  identity  and  fail  to 
stand  out  clearly  in  the  mind  of  the  reader 
were  he  obliged  to  continually  struggle  with 
their  Omaha  names. 

In  the  talk  of  the  boys  I  have  striven  to 
give  a  reproduction  of  the  peculiar  English 
xiii 


Preface 

spoken  "by  them,  which  was  composite,  gathered 
from  the  imperfect  comprehension  of  their 
books,  the  provincialisms  of  the  teachers,  and 
the  slang  and  bad  grammar  picked  up  from 
uneducated  white  persons  employed  at  the 
school  or  at  the  Government  Agency.  Oddi 
ties  of  speech,  profanity,  localisms,  and  slang 
were  unknown  in  the  Omaha  language,  so 
when  such  expressions  fell  upon  the  ears  of 
these  lads  they  innocently  learned  and  used 
them  without  the  slightest  suspicion  that  there 
could  be  bad  as  well  as  good  English. 

The  misconception  of  Indian  life  and 
character  so  common  among  the  white  people 
has  been  largely  due  to  an  ignorance  of  the 
Indian's  language,  of  his  mode  of  thought, 
his  beliefs,  his  ideals,  and  his  native  institu 
tions.  Every  aspect  of  the  Indian  and  his 
manner  of  life  has  always  been  strange  to 
the  white  man,  and  this  strangeness  has  been 
magnified  by  the  mists  of  prejudice  and  the 
conflict  of  interests  between  the  two  races. 
While  these  in  time  may  disappear,  no  na 
tive  American  can  ever  cease  to  regret  that 
the  utterances  of  his  fathers  have  been  con 
stantly  belittled  when  put  into  English,  that 
xiv 


Preface 

their  thoughts  have  frequently  been  travestied 
and  their  native  dignity  obscured.  The 
average  interpreter  has  generally  picked  up  his 
knowledge  of  English  in  a  random  fashion,  for 
very  few  have  ever  had  the  advantage  of  a 
thorough  education,  and  all  have  had  to  deal 
with  the  difficulties  that  attend  the  translator. 
The  beauty  and  picturesqueness,  and  eupho 
nious  playfulness,  or  the  gravity  of  diction 
which  I  have  heard  among  my  own  people, 
and  other  tribes  as  well,  are  all  but  impossible 
to  be  given  literally  in  English. 

The  talk  of  the  older  people,  when  they 
speak  in  this  book,  is,  as  well  as  I  can  trans 
late  it,  that  of  every  day  use. 

Most  of  the  country  now  known  as  the 
State  of  Nebraska  (the  Omaha  name  of  the 
river  Platt,  descriptive  of  its  shallowness, 
width,  and  low  banks)  had  for  many  genera 
tions  been  held  and  claimed  by  our  people  as 
their  own,  but  when  they  ceded  the  greater 
part  of  this  territory  to  the  United  States 
government,  they  reserved  only  a  certain  tract 
for  their  own  use  and  home.  It  is  upon  the 
eastern  part  of  this  reservation  that  the  scene 
of  these  sketches  is  laid,  and  at  the  time  when 
xv 


Preface 

the  Omahas  were  living  near  the  Missouri 
River  in  three  villages,  some  four  or  Jive 
miles  apart.  The  one  farthest  south  was 
known  as  Ton'-won-ga-hae's  village  ;  the  peo 
ple  were  called  "  wood  eaters"  because  they 
cut  and  sold  wood  to  the  settlers  who  lived 
near  them.  The  middle  one  was  Ish'-ka- 
da-be's  village,  and  the  people  designated  as 
"  those  who  dwell  in  earth  lodges"  they  hav 
ing  adhered  to  the  aboriginal  form  of  dwell 
ing  when  they  built  their  village.  The  one 
to  the  north  and  nearest  the  Mission  was 
E-staf -ma-za*  s  village,  and  the  people  were 
known  as  "  the  make-believe  white  men"  be 
cause  they  built  their  houses  after  the  fashion 
of  the  white  settlers.  Furniture,  such  as  beds, 
chairs,  tables,  bureaus,  etc.,  were  not  used  in 
any  of  these  villages,  except  in  a  few  instances, 
while  in  all  of  them  the  Indian  costume,  lan 
guage,  and  social  customs  remained  as  yet 
unmodified. 

In  those  days  the  Missouri  was  the  only 
highway  of  commerce.  Toiling  sloidy  against 
the  swift  current,  laden  with  supplies  for  the 
trading  posts  and  for  our  Mission,  came  the 
puffing  little  steamboats  from  the  "  town  of 
xvi 


Preface 

the  Red-hair"  as  St.  Louis  was  called  by  the 
Indians,  in  memory  of  the  auburn  locks  of 
Governor  Clark,  —  of  Lewis  and  Clark  fame. 
We  children  used  to  watch  these  noisy  "boats 
as  they  forced  their  way  through  the  turbid 
water  and  made  a  landing  by  running  the 
bow  into  the  soft  bank. 

The  white  people  speak  of  the  country  at 
this  period  as  " a  wilderness''  as  though  it 
was  an  empty  tract  without  human  interest 
or  history.  To  us  Indians  it  was  as  clearly 
defined  then  as  it  is  to-day ;  we  knew  the 
boundaries  of  tribal  lands,  those  of  our 
friends  and  those  of  our  foes;  we  were 
familiar  with  every  stream,  the  contour  of 
every  hill,  and  each  peculiar  feature  of  the 
landscape  had  its  tradition.  It  was  our 
home,  the  scene  of  our  history,  and  we  loved 
it  as  our  country. 


xvn 


The  Middle  Five 


The  Middle  Five 


Chapter  I 
The  Mission 

LEANING  against  the  wall  of  a  large 
stone  building,  with  moccasined  feet 
dangling  from  a  high  wooden  bench  on  the 
front  porch,  sat  a  little  boy  crying.  His 
buckskin  suit,  prettily  fringed  and  embroid 
ered  with  porcupine  quills  of  the  brightest 
colors,  indicated  the  care  bestowed  upon  him 
by  fond  parents.  Boys  and  girls  were  at  play 
around  the  house,  making  the  place  ring  with 
their  merry  laughter  as  they  chased  each 
other  among  the  trees,  but  the  little  boy  sat 
all  alone,  sobbing  as  though  his  heart  would 
break.  A  big  boy  came  and  sat  by  his  side, 
put  an  arm  around  him,  and  in  a  kindly  tone 
said,  in  Indian : 

"  What  are  you  crying  for  ?  Don't  cry,  — 
I'll  play  with  you  and  be  your  friend.  I 
won't  let  the  boys  hurt  you." 

"I  want  my  mother!  I  want  to  go  home!" 
i  T 


The  Middle  Five 

was  all  the  homesick  little  chap  could  say, 
crying  harder  than  ever. 

"  You  will  see  your  mother  soon,  we  can 
go  home  every  bathing-day  (Saturday).  It 
is  only  three  days  to  wait,  so  don't  cry.  I 
have  to  go  away,  but  I  will  be  back  soon. 
Play  with  this  dog  until  I  come  "  —  putting 
into  the  hands  of  the  little  boy  a  wooden 
dog. 

A  bell  rang,  and  from  every  direction 
came  boys  and  girls  crowding  and  pushing 
one  another  as  they  entered  two  of  the  large 
doors  of  the  building.  The  big  boy  came 
running,  and,  grasping  the  little  one  by  the 
hand,  fairly  dragged  him  along,  saying : 
"Come,  quick !  We  are  going  to  eat." 

They  entered  a  large  room  filled  with 
people.  Parallel  to  the  walls  stood  tables 
of  great  length,  at  one  of  which  the  two  boys 
took  seats.  After  considerable  hard  breath 
ing  and  shuffling  by  the  children,  they  sud 
denly  became  very  still,  every  one  bowed  his 
head,  then  a  man  with  gray  hair  and  whis 
kers,  who  sat  at  the  end  of  one  of  the  tables, 
spoke  in  a  low  tone.  He  finished  speaking, 
then  followed  a  deafening  clatter  of  a  hun- 
2 


The  Mission 

dred  tin  plates  and  cups.  Young  women 
carrying  great  pans  of  steaming  food  moved 
rapidly  from  table  to  table.  One  of  these 
girls  came  to  the  two  boys,  and  put  into  the 
plate  of  the  younger  a  potato.  "  Give  him 
two,  he  's  hungry,"  whispered  the  big  boy  to 
the  girl. 

Everything  was  strange  to  the  little  new 
comer  and  he  kept  looking  all  around.  The 
lamps  that  were  fastened  to  the  walls  and 
posts,  the  large  clock  that  stood  ticking 
gloomily  on  a  shelf,  and  the  cupboard  with 
its  tin  door  perforated  in  a  queer  design 
were  objects  upon  which  his  eyes  rested 
with  wonder. 

The  supper  over,  the  boys  and  girls  who 
sat  on  the  inner  side  of  the  tables  turned  to 
face  the  centre  of  the  room,  and  folded  their 
arms.  Then  they  all  sang.  When  this  was 
done,  they  dropped  on  their  knees  and  the 
gray-haired  man  began  to  talk  again.  The 
little  boy  watched  him  for  a  while,  then  laid 
his  head  on  the  hard  bench,  —  the  tones  of 
the  old  man  grew  fainter  and  fainter  until 
the  boy  lost  all  consciousness  of  them.  Sud 
denly  there  burst  upon  him  a  noise  like 
3 


The  Middle  Five 

thunder.  He  arose  to  his  feet  with  a  start, 
and,  bewildered,  he  looked  around.  Every 
thing  seemed  to  be  in  a  whirl.  He  took 
fright,  ran  to  the  door  that  first  caught  his 
sight,  arid  went  with  a  thud  down  to  a 
landing,  but  did  not  lose  his  balance ;  he  took 
another  step,  then  fell  headlong  into  a  dread 
ful  dark  place.  He  screamed  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  frightened  almost  into  a  fit.  A 
woman  picked  him  up  and  carried  him  in 
her  arms  up  a  flight  of  stairs,  speaking  to 
him  in  a  language  that  he  could  not  under 
stand. 

This  was  my  first  experience  at  the  board 
ing  school  established  by  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  children  of  the  Omaha  tribe  of 
Indians. 

The  Mission  school,  the  founding  of  which 
had  marked  an  epoch  in  the  tribe,  was 
located  among  the  wooded  bluffs  of  the 
Missouri  on  the  eastern  part  of  the  reserva 
tion.  The  principal  building  was  of  stone, 
plain  and  substantial,  and  plastered  inside 
and  out.  It  was  three  stories  high  and  had 
4 


The  Mission 

an  attic.  This  attic  was  perhaps  the  most 
interesting  part  of  the  structure,  for  we  boys 
were  quite  sure  it  was  tenanted  by  ghosts, 
and  that  the  devil,  who  figured  considerably 
in  the  instruction  given  us,  had  full  sway  in 
this  apartment. 

There  was  a  large  square  hole  close  to  the 
head  of  the  stairs  that  led  up  to  the  attic. 
This  hole  had  the  greatest  terror  for  us; 
there  was  a  constant  whistling  within  it, 
and  out  of  it  came  sounds  like  distressing 
moans  and  sighs.  I  remember  once,  when 
Gray-beard  had  sent  me  up  to  the  attic  for 
something,  that  I  never  hurried  so  on  any 
other  errand  as  I  did  on  that  one.  I  found 
the  article  he  desired,  put  it  under  my  arm, 
and  cautiously  approached  the  head  of  the 
stair,  keeping  an  eye  on  the  dark  hole,  then 
suddenly  I  made  a  dash  past  it,  and  with 
amazing  rapidity  thundered  downstairs. 
"  Lad,  you  will  break  your  neck ! "  exclaimed 
Gray-beard.  I  told  him  I  liked  to  run  down 
stairs  ! 

Under  the  attic  was  the  boys'  dormitory. 
The  beds  were  placed  close  together,  and 
some  were  wide  enough  for  three  boys, 
5 


The  Middle  Five 

The  room  was  large,  and  in  the  middle  of  it 
stood  a  post.  I  have  reason  to  remember 
this,  for  one  night  I  got  up  in  my  sleep  and 
ran  with  all  my  might  against  this  post, 
making  such  a  noise  as  to  awaken  Gray- 
beard  and  the  superintendent,  who  came  up 
in  great  haste  with  candles  in  their  hands. 
I  was  laid  up  for  days  after  this  exploit,  but 
I  never  ran  in  my  sleep  again. 

Beneath  our  dormitory  were  the  parlor  and 
the  bedroom  of  Gray-beard,  our  teacher  and 
disciplinarian.  This  name  was  not  inherited 
by  him,  nor  was  it  one  of  his  own  choosing ; 
the  boys  gave  it  to  him  because  his  beard 
was  iron-gray,  and  the  Indians  adopted  it 
from  the  boys.  In  his  room  at  night  he 
might  have  heard  strange  noises  from  the 
cherubs  in  the  dormitory  above,  in  fact  he 
came  up  there  quite  often,  rod  in  hand,  as  a 
reminder  that  such  sounds  made  sleep  im 
possible. 

Under  Gray-beard's  rooms  was  the  school 
room  where  we  struggled  with  arithmetic, 
geography,  history,  and  ABC,  up  to  the 
Fifth  Eeader.  This  room  corresponded  in  size 
to  our  dormitory,  but  it  had  no  middle  post. 
6 


The  Mission 

The  Jining-hall,  where  on  my  arrival  I 
had  taken  fright  and  stampeded  head  fore 
most  into  the  cellar,  was  in  the  middle  of 
the  first  story.  It  was  very  large  and  held, 
beside  the  three  long  tables,  a  big  stove  in 
the  middle  between  two  large  posts.  I  re 
member  these  posts  very  well,  I  kept  close 
company  with  one  of  them,  on  my  return 
from  a  run- a  way  expedition ;  and  it  was  on 
this  occasion  that  I  had  my  first  love  adven 
ture  —  but  I  must  not  anticipate. 

The  rooms  on  the  two  stories  above  the 
dining-hall  were  occupied,  one  as  play-room 
for  the  girls,  the  others  by  the  various  em 
ployees. 

On  the  same  floor  with  the  school-room 
and  the  dining-hall,  at  the  north  end  of  the 
building,  was  the  chapel.  Here  we  sat  in 
rows  on  Sunday  mornings,  afternoons,  and 
evenings,  and  on  Thursday  evenings,  ranged 
on  long,  high,  wooden  benches  without 
backs,  our  feet  scarcely  touching  the  floor, 
and  listened  (sometimes)  to  sermons  which 
were  remarkable  for  their  length  and  sleep- 
enticing  effects.  I  had  many  delightful 
dreams  in  this  chapel,  about  Samson  and 
7 


The  Middle  Five 

his  jaw-bone  war  club,  the  fight  between 
David  and  Goliath,  and  of  the  adventures  of 
Joseph  the  dreamer,  —  stories  that  were  the 
delight  of  my  boyhood.  Brush,  one  of  my 
dearest  friends  at  the  school,  knowing  my 
weakness,  secured  a  seat  back  of  mine  on 
purpose  to  support  me  when  I  was  in  a 
slumberous  mood.  I  shall  never  forget  his 
goodness ;  he  now  sleeps  in  the  cemetery 
just  above  the  Mission. 

The  two  large  rooms  over  the  chapel  were 
occupied  by  our  superintendent  and  min 
ister.  Above  his  apartments  was  the  girls' 
dormitory,  while  over  all  stretched  the 
haunted,  ghostly  attic. 

There  were  other  buildings  grouped 
around:  to  the  back  stood  the  store-house 
and  the  smoke-house ;  out  of  the  latter  came 
our  delicious  hams  and  our  sermons,  for  a 
part  of  this  building  was  used  as  the  min 
ister's  study.  Then  there  was  the  great 
barn  where  we  boys  played  hide-and-seek  in 
the  hay-mow ;  the  corn-crib  with  its  yellow 
wealth  showing  between  the  boards ;  and  the 
dusty  wheat-bins  with  padlocked  doors. 
Below  on  the  bottom  were  the  Government 
8 


The  Mission 

saw  and  grist  mills,  where  we  often  went  to 
see  the  grinding  of  the  Indians'  grain  and 
the  large  trees  sawed  into  lumber  for 
Agency  use  or  for  the  Indians'  houses.  The 
carpenter  and  blacksmith  shops  were  also 
down  there,  and  a  long  wooden  house  for 
the  occupancy  of  the  Government  employees. 
All  of  these  buildings  stood  for  the  fulfil 
ment  of  the  solemn  promises  made  by  the 
"  Great  Father  "  at  Washington  to  his  "  Eed 
Children,"  and  as  a  part  of  the  price  paid 
for  thousands  and  thousands  of  acres  of  fine 
land. 

Although  there  were  high  hills  just  back  of 
the  school,  from  which  one  could  get  excel 
lent  views  of  the  surrounding  country,  we 
boys  preferred  to  go  up  into  the  belfry  on 
the  top  of  the  main  building  for  our  obser 
vations.  We  did  not  go  often ;  two  diffi 
culties  were  in  the  way :  the  securing  of 
permission  from  the  superintendent,  as  but 
few  boys  could  be  trusted  up  there ;  and 
we  must  go  through  the  haunted  attic  to  get 
to  the  belfry.  No  boy  during  my  school 
days  ever  went  up  there  alone. 

My  friend  Brush,  being  quite  a  favorite 
9 


The  Middle  Five 

with  the  superintendent,  often  had  permis 
sion  to  go,  and  took  me  with  him.  When 
we  were  once  in  the  belfry,  we  felt  safe  from 
the  annoyances  of  the  devil  and  the  other 
horrible  things  in  the  attic.  The  superinten 
dent,  without  the  asking,  let  Brush  have  a 
big  spy-glass,  which  the  other  boys  were  not 
permitted  to  use,  and  with  it  we  could  see 
far  beyond  the  river  and  the  valley  that 
stretched  in  the  distance  to  the  opposite 
bluffs,  that  were  always  nearly  hidden  in  a 
bluish  haze.  Bringing  the  glass  to  a  closer 
range,  we  could  see  below,  on  our  side  of  the 
river,  the  rich  fields  of  the  Mission  and  of 
the  Indians ;  and  we  used  to  watch  the 
Indians  and  the  hired  men  of  the  school  at 
work  there.  Sometimes  we  caught  sight  of 
a  steamboat  far  down  the  river  coming  up, 
trailing  a  long  line  of  smoke ;  then,  with 
great  excitement,  we  would  run  down  and  tell 
the  boys,  and  all  of  us  would  hasten  to  the 
highest  point  near  the  school  and  watch  the 
"  mystic  boat "  as  it  slowly  made  its  way 
along  the  winding  stream. 

To  the  south  of  the  Mission,  overlooking 
the  Missouri  and  a  small  lake,  stood  the 
10 


The  Mission 

highest  hill  for  miles  around.  This  was 
known  by  the  Indians  as  "  the  hill  on  which 
Um'-pa-ton-ga  (Big  Elk)  was  buried."  He 
was  one  of  the  greatest  chiefs  of  the 
Omahas. 

Before  schools  of  any  kind  were  known 
among  the  Omahas,  Indian  parents  warned 
their  boys  and  girls  against  a  free  association 
with  the  children  of  persons  who  did  not 
bear  a  good  character.  "  Who  was  that  you 
were  playing  with  ? "  a  father  or  mother 
would  ask.  "Nobody  knows  the  child's 
family,  —  beware  of  him,  do  not  go  with 
him,  he  will  throw  upon  you  the  habit  of 
lying  or  stealing.  Go  with  children  whose 
parents  are  respected  by  the  people."  Such 
advice  would  be  given  by  the  reputable  men 
and  women  of  the  tribe  to  their  children  as 
to  choosing  their  playfellows. 

At  the  school  we  were  all  thrown  together 
and  left  to  form  our  own  associates.  The 
sons  of  chiefs  and  of  prominent  men  went 
with  the  sons  of  the  common  people,  regard 
less  of  social  standing  and  character.  The 
only  distinction  made  was  against  coward- 
ii 


The  Middle  Five 

ice ;  the  boy  who  could  not  fight  found  it 
difficult  to  maintain  the  respect  of  his  mates, 
and  to  get  a  place  among  the  different 
"  gangs  "  or  groups  of  associates  the  boys 
had  established  among  themselves.  I  learned 
this  from  my  friend  Brush,  to  whom  I  com 
plained  one  day  of  being  abused  by  the  boys 
when  he  was  not  near.  "You  must  look 
out  for  yourself  now,"  he  said.  "  If  the 
boys  know  you  won't  fight,  they  will  tease 
you  all  the  time.  You  must  fight." 

So  the  next  boy  who  rudely  shoved  me 
aside  and  knocked  my  hat  off  received  a 
painful  surprise,  for  my  right  fist  came  so 
hard  against  his  cheekbone  that  he  stood 
for  a  moment  as  though  stunned.  Then  he 
moved,  and  I  moved,  and  the  boys  standing 
near  could  hardly  tell  which  was  which 
until  we  separated,  pretty  well  bruised. 
After  that  the  boys  were  careful  not  to 
knock  my  hat  off  my  head ;  if  they  did,  they 
took  pains  to  let  me  know  that  it  was  not 
intentional. 

I  told  Brush  about  this  set-to,  and  he  ap 
proved  of  it.  "  That 's  right,"  he  said ;  "  fight 
any  of  them,  even  if  you  know  that  you  're 

12 


The  Mission 

going  to  get  licked ;  then  they  won't  tease 
you." 

My  father  was  the  principal  chief  of  the 
tribe  and  leader  of  the  village  of  the  "  Make- 
believe  white-men ; "  he  had  plenty  of  horses, 
the  standard  of  Indian  wealth,  yet  that  did 
not  entitle  me  to  a  place  in  any  of  the  differ 
ent  "  gangs  "  in  the  school ;  I  had  to  show 
that  I  was  not  afraid  to  stand  up  and  fight. 
Even  good-natured  Brush  had  to  bristle  up 
at  times  and  engage  in  a  lively  tussle,  else 
there  would  have  been  no  peace  for  him. 
Now  I  was  wanted  by  the  smaller  "  gangs  " 
and  invited  by  them  to  their  places  of  sport ; 
but  Brush  held  on  to  me  and  kept  me  out. 

Among  the  boys  there  was  the  "gang," 
of  the  "  Big  Seven  "  which  Brush  had  been 
trying  to  enter ;  but,  for  some  reason  which  I 
did  not  then  understand,  they  would  not 
admit  him.  He  did  not  care  to  go  into  any 
of  the  "  gangs "  of  smaller  boys,  of  which 
there  were  quite  a  number.  I  thought  the 
"  Big  Seven  "  did  not  want  him,  because  he 
was  too  small ;  but  later  I  found  out  there 
was  another  reason  for  it. 

As  time  passed,  I  learned  more  and  more 
13 


The  Middle  Five 

of  the  peculiar  ways  of  the  boys  at  the 
school,  of  the  teachers,  and  of  my  books.  It 
was  not  long  before  I  felt  quite  at  home  and 
independent ;  but  Brush  and  I  were  still 
without  a  "  gang." 


Chapter    II 

Brush 

,  you  're  learning  fast ! "  said 
Brush  one  afternoon  as  I  was  la 
boriously  writing  my  lesson  on  a  slate 
with  his  help.  "  I  'm  glad ;  I  want  you  to 
catch  up  with  me  so  we  can  be  in  the  same 
classes." 

I  felt  proud  of  his  praise  and  worked  all 
the  harder.  We  had  gone  through  the 
alphabet  swimmingly,  and  once,  when  I  said 
it  without  a  break,  he  slapped  me  on  the 
shoulder  and  exclaimed,  "  That 's  good  ! " 
When  I  was  able  to  read  short  sentences,  I 
felt  quite  sure  that  I  should  soon  take  my 
place  among  the  advanced  pupils. 

In  and  out  of  school  Brush  helped  me 
along;  in  our  play  and  when  our  work 
brought  us  together,  he  always  managed  to 
teach  me  something  of  the  English  language, 
and  I  was  a  willing  student  because  he 
taught  me  in  a  way  that  made  the  work  a 
pleasure.  Gray-beard,  not  knowing  what  a 
kind  and  patient  assistant  he  had  in  Brush, 


The  Middle  Five 

thought  he  had  in  me  an  exceptionally  bright 
scholar,  for  I  made  rapid  headway  in  learn 
ing  to  speak  English,  won  several  promo 
tions,  and  soon  found  myself  in  the  Second 
Header  class. 

Brush  was  a  bright  fellow  and  quite  a 
student.  He  and  I  sat  at  the  same  desk  in 
the  school-room,  side  by  side  at  the  dining- 
table,  and  we  were  bed-fellows.  From  him 
I  learned  many  things  he  had  gleaned  from 
the  superintendent's  library,  for  he  was  a 
great  reader,  and  the  superintendent,  who 
liked  the  boy,  favored  him  in  various  ways, 
loaned  him  books  to  read,  and  talked  with 
him  about  them. 

Of  all  the  stories  he  used  to  tell  me,  and 
he  knew  a  great  many,  I  liked  best  to  hear 
him  recount  the  old  stories  out  of  the  Bible. 
He  was  familiar  with  them  all,  and  told 
them  in  a  way  that  delighted  me,  for  he 
fitted  them  to  my  notions.  He  made  them 
very  real.  One  day  he  read  to  me  a  story, 
but  I  could  not  understand  it  as  well  as 
when  he  told  it  in  his  own  simple  way,  so  I 
asked  him  not  to  read  them  to  me  any  more. 
The  time  for  the  telling  of  stories  was  at 
16 


Brush 

night  after  Gray-beard  had  gone  downstairs 
to  his  own  rooms,  having  warned  us  against 
loud  talking. 

My  friend  always  seemed  happy,  yet  at 
times,  particularly  on  Saturdays,  I  noticed 
he  would  appear  sober,  almost  melancholy. 
He  did  not  go  home  as  the  rest  of  us  did, 
and  I  wondered  at  this  very  much.  He  had 
a  way  of  disappearing  about  the  time  I  was 
ready  to  start  home,  so  I  never  had  a  chance 
to  invite  him  to  my  house,  as  I  had  often 
intended  to  do.  I  tried  a  number  of  times 
to  bring  him  to  speak  of  himself,  but  he 
would  throw  me  off  that  line  of  talk,  and 
my  curiosity  went  unsatisfied  for  a  long  time. 

"  Say,  Brush,  where  do  you  live  ? "  I  asked 
one  afternoon  as  we  were  in  the  belfry. 
"  You  don't  go  home  Saturdays  like  the  rest 
of  us." 

"There's  a  man  on  the  top  of  the  hill 
near  Big  Elk's  grave,"  he  said  evasively  as 
he  looked  through  the  spy-glass. 

I  could  see  the  man  with  my  naked  eyes 
as  he  stood  on  the  topmost  point  against  the 
clear,  blue  sky. 

"Take  the  spy-glass  and  look  at  him," 
2  17 


The  Middle  Five 

continued  Brush,  as  though  to  put  off  my 
question. 

"Do  you  live  on  the  other  side  of  that 
hill  ? "  I  persisted. 

"  Frank,  I  live  here,  I  don't  live  anywhere 
else.  This  is  the  only  home  I  have,"  said 
the  boy  sadly.  "Do  your  father  and  mother 
ask  you  who  you  play  with  at  the  Mission  ? " 

"  N-o,  they  never  did,  maybe  they  will 
sometime,  I  don't  know." 

u  I  think  they  will,  that 's  why  I  'm  going 
to  tell  you  who  I  am,  then  they  will  know," 
said  Brush,  seriously.  After  a  pause  he  went 
on,  "  My  father  and  mother  died  when  I 
was  very  small,  but  I  remember  my  grand 
father.  He  was  a  very  old  man.  He  used 
to  go  to  your  father's  house ;  maybe  you 
have  seen  him,  but  I  guess  you  can't  remem 
ber.  He  was  one  of  the  chiefs,  Tae-son'  was 
his  name.  Once  we  went  to  Omaha  to  buy 
a  lot  of  things,  and  coming  home  we  camped 
just  this  side  of  the  town ;  there  he  died. 
He  was  the  last  relative  I  had.  Now  I  have 
no  mother,  no  father,  no  sister,  nothing  — 
no  home."  He  uttered  the  last  word  slowly 
as  though  thinking.  "  That 's  why  the  Big 
18 


Brush 

Seven  —  that  man 's  gone,  you  take  the  spy 
glass  and  look  for  him." 

"  If  you  have  no  home,  why  don't  you  go 
home  with  me?"  I  asked,  looking  through 
the  spy-glass.  "I  know  my  father  and 
mother  would  like  you  the  same  as  I  do." 

"  If  I  go  home  with  you,  I  know  1 11  have 
a  good  time,  but  I  have  n't  any  home  to  ask 
you  to.  All  the  boys  in  the  Big  Seven  do 
that  way." 

"  I  don't  care  what  the  Big  Seven  do,  I 
want  you  to  go  home  with  me." 

Saturday  came.  At  breakfast  I  was 
anxious  to  have  prayers  over,  Brush  was  to 
go  home  with  me,  and  we  anticipated  much 
pleasure  for  the  day. 

"  Don't  eat  much,"  I  whispered  to  him ; 
"we're  going  to  eat  again  when  we  get 
home.  My  mother  will  give  us  something 
good,  she  always  does." 

After  breakfast  Brush  went  to  the  barn 
and  filled  the  stalls  with  hay  for  the  horses, 
which  was  part  of  the  work  assigned  him. 
Then  he  ran  up  to  the  superintendent  to 
report,  and  as  soon  as  he  came  down  we 
were  off. 

19 


The  Middle  Five 

On  the  hill  we  were  joined  by  two  white 
boys,  children  of  one  of  the  Government 
employees  at  the  mill.  "Hello!  Going 
home  ? "  asked  one  of  them.  "  We  're  going 
to  the  village.  They  say  they  're  going  to 
have  a  horse  race  there  to-day.  We  want 
to  see  it." 

Instead  of  taking  the  well-beaten  path  to 
the  village,  we  all  turned  off  into  one  that 
led  directly  to  my  father's  house,  and  that 
passed  by  the  burial-place  on  the  bluffs. 
The  two  white  boys  were  ahead,  and  when 
they  came  to  a  freshly  made  mound  sur 
rounded  by  a  neat  fence  they  stopped,  and 
peered  between  the  palings.  "  Pemmican  ! " 
exclaimed  one  of  them.  When  Brush  and 
I  came  up,  we  too  looked  in  and  saw  on  the 
grave  a  wooden  bowl  of  pemmican.  It  was 
tempting  these  white  boys,  for  they  had 
learned  to  like  this  peculiar  food. 

"Jack,  give  me  a  boost?"  said  one  of 
them,  and  soon  he  was  over  the  fence  filling 
his  pockets  out  of  the  bowl.  Then  he  offered 
the  remainder  to  the  other  boy. 

Brush  and  I  were  amazed  and  horrified  at 
this  action.  We  went  straight  on,  taking 


Brush 

no  notice  of  the  offer  made  by  the  boys  to 
give  us  some  of  the  stolen  food.  "  I  bet  one 
of  those  boys  will  die  before  the  year  is 
gone,"  said  Brush,  turning  and  looking 
back  at  the  irreverent  little  rascals,  who 
were  now  tipping  their  heads  backward  and 
putting  pinches  of  the  meat  into  their 
mouths. 

"  I  bet  so  too  ! "  I  added.  "  It  was  awful 
the  way  they  did.  Let 's  go  on  fast ;  I  don't 
want  to  be  with  them."  And  we  sped  down 
the  hill  on  a  brisk  run. 

At  the  door  of  the  house  my  mother  met 
us  and  led  us  into  her  room.  We  both 
began  to  tell  her  about  the  dreadful  thing 
the  white  boys  had  done,  and  expressed  the 
belief  that  before  the  year  was  out  one  or 
both  of  them  would  die. 

We  sat  down  on  the  floor,  and  mother 
placed  between  us  a  pretty  wooden  bowl 
filled  with  freshly  made  pemmican,  smiling 
at  our  childish  notion  that  food  taken  after 
the  spirits  had  tasted  it  meant  death  within 
the  year.  As  we  were  eating  with  relish 
the  food  placed  before  us,  my  mother  said, 
"  You  do  not  understand  why  the  bowl  of 

21 


The  Middle  Five 

pemmican  was  placed  on  the  little  grave, 
and  I  must  tell  you.  The  spirit  of  the  per 
son  buried  in  that  grave,  or  the  spirit  of  any 
other  person  dead  and  buried,  cannot  eat 
food ;  but  people  love  their  dead  relatives ; 
they  remember  them  and  long  for  their 
presence  at  the  family  gathering:  it  is  this 
desire  that  makes  them  go  and  put  a  share 
of  the  food  on  the  grave  of  those  who  have 
become  nothing,  and  not  the  belief  that  the 
dead  can  return  and  partake  of  food  the 
same  as  the  living." 

We  listened  with  respectful  attention  as 
my  mother  explained  to  us  this  custom 
which  arose  from  the  tender  longing  that 
prompted  the  mourner  to  place  on  the  little 
mound  the  food  that  might  have  been  the 
share  of  the  loved  one  who  lay  under  the 
sod;  but  I  am  afraid  we  failed  to  grasp 
the  meaning  of  her  words,  and  clung  to  the 
commonplace  idea  entertained  by  less 
thoughtful  persons. 

In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  general 
movement  throughout  the  village,  men, 
singly  and  in  groups,  walked  with  stately 
tread  toward  the  edge  of  the  bluff  back  of 

22 


Brush 

my  father's  house.  Women,  too,  no  less 
dignified,  made  their  way  in  the  same  direc 
tion,  followed  by  their  grown-up  daughters 
dressed  in  their  gayest  attire,  their  orna 
ments  glinting  in  the  sun.  Little  boys  and 
girls  chased  each  other  hither  and  thither  as 
they  drifted  that  way,  and  soon  there  was  a 
great  gathering  of  people,  all  bent  upon 
enjoying  the  excitement  of  the  race.  Brush 
and  I  mingled  with  the  boys,  and  took  part 
in  their  lively  games,  as  preparations  were 
going  on  for  the  sport  of  the  day. 

My  father  was  in  his  corral  trying  to 
lasso  a  young  horse  to  put  on  the  track,  a 
spirited  little  animal  with  bald  face  and 
large  white  spots  on  his  sides.  When,  with 
some  difficulty,  he  was  caught  and  bridled, 
he  stood  pawing  the  ground,  impatient  to  go, 
tossing  up  his  head  from  time  to  time  and 
moving  his  ears  excitedly.  My  father  led 
him  up  to  where  the  people  were  gathered ; 
other  men  had  already  brought  their  horses 
there.  Boys  about  Brush's  size,  lithe  of 
figure,  stood  by  the  racers  ready  to  mount 
when  it  was  time  to  start. 

My  father  looked  around,  and  finally  his 
23 


The  Middle  Five 

eyes  rested  upon  Brush.     "  Boy,  can   you 
ride  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  can,"  was  the  prompt  answer. 

My  breath  was  fairly  taken  away  at  this 
reply.  I  did  not  know  that  Brush  could 
ride  well  enough  to  mount  a  running  horse 
at  a  race. 

"I  want  you  to  ride  my  horse  in  this 
race,"  said  my  father. 

"All  right,"  replied  the  lad,  taking  off 
his  school  uniform.  In  a  moment  he  was 
ready,  stripped  naked,  with  only  a  breech 
cloth. 

Taking  the  reins  and  grasping  the  horse 
by  the  mane,  Brush  attempted  to  spring  on 
his  back,  but  the  animal,  all  excited,  trotted 
round  and  round.  Father  seized  him  by 
the  bit,  Brush  lifted  his  right  foot,  father 
caught  it,  and  in  a  twinkling  the  boy  was 
on  the  horse.  The  mount  was  superb ;  the 
fiery  creature  sprang  forward  at  a  brisk 
gallop,  but  was  checked  by  a  skilled  hand. 

"  Give  him  a  canter  a  short  distance  ;  he  11 
quiet  down,"  said  father.  Brush  did  so 
and  soon  returned,  the  horse  prancing  about 
most  gracefully. 

24 


Brush 

The  course  was  on  the  bottom  and  as 
smooth  as  a  floor.  The  twelve  horses  which 
were  to  run  were  taken  to  the  farther  end, 
about  a  mile  away,  and  with  them  went  the 
two  men  who  were  to  manage  the  race. 
When  the  horses  reached  the  starting  point, 
they  were  ranged  in  line,  and  their  riders 
were  told  to  gallop  them  slowly  and  evenly 
to  a  point  marked  on  the  course.  The  two 
men  rode  along  to  see  that  the  line  was  kept 
fairly ;  when  the  marked  place  was  reached, 
the  men  shouted,  "Ah — hu  !"  then  every 
boy  put  his  horse  on  the  run. 

To  us  on  the  hill,  the  horses  looked  like 
small  specks  in  the  distance;  but,  by  the 
sudden  rising  of  a  cloud  of  dust,  we  knew 
when  the  signal  was  given  to  run.  For  a 
time  they  were  too  far  away  for  us  to  dis 
tinguish  those  in  the  lead ;  but,  as  the  horses 
came  nearer,  we  began  to  recognize  them ; 
two  in  the  front  were  well  ahead,  neck  and 
neck. 

"  It 's  the  roan  ! "  shouted  a  tall  man. 

"No,  it's  the  bald  face  !"  cried  another. 

"Hurrah!  Brush  is  in  the  lead!"  yelled 
the  freckled-faced  white  boy,  swinging  his 
25 


The  Middle  Five 

ragged  hat  in  the  air  as  he  ran  up  to  where 
I  was  standing.  "  Gee  whiz  !  look  at  him ! 
look  at  him !  My !  I  wish  I  could  ride  like 
that!" 

Brush  leaned  forward  a  little,  loosened 
the  reins  a  bit;  the  horse  gathered  fresh 
speed  and  gained  a  length.  The  boy  on  the 
roan  leaned  forward  too,  and,  raising  his  right 
arm,  brought  down  his  whip  on  the  flank, 
the  animal  bravely  sprang  forward,  but  his 
strength  was  exhausted,  he  could  do  no 
more.  On  came  the  bald  face,  and  reached 
the  goal  nearly  three  lengths  ahead. 

The  men  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  and 
the  women,  with  long-drawn  breaths,  praised 
the  plucky  little  rider.  Brush  trotted  up  to 
my  father,  and  delivered  the  horse. 

"  Who  are  you,  little  brother  ? "  asked 
father. 

For  a  moment  Brush  looked  embarrassed, 
then  lifting  his  eyes  to  father's  face  an 
swered,  "  I  am  Tae-son's  grandson  and 
Sas-su's  friend." 

"Your  grandfather  was  my  friend,"  said 
my  father,  looking  kindly  at  the  lad ;  "  I  am 
glad  you  like  the  company  of  my  boy.  You 
26 


Brush 

must  always  come  with  him  on  his  visits 
home  from  the  House  of  Teaching." 

Brush  was  touched  by  this  recognition, 
and  the  tears  started  to  his  eyes.  Seeing 
this,  I  intercepted  the  white  boys  who  were 
running  toward  him.  When  I  thought 
Brush  had  had  time  to  master  his  feelings, 
I  took  the  two  boys  to  him,  and  they  put 
their  arms  around  him  exclaiming,  "  Brush, 
that  was  grand  ! " 

As  this  was  his  first  visit  to  my  home 
Brush  did  not  feel  quite  easy,  and  long 
before  the  usual  hour  for  my  returning  to 
the  Mission,  he  suggested  our  going  back. 
When  we  entered  the  school  yard,  which 
was  deserted,  for  the  boys  and  girls  had  riot 
yet  returned,  we  noticed  a  woman  at  the 
front  gate  holding  a  horse  by  a  lariat  and 
close  beside  her  stood  a  colt  mounted  by 
two  boys.  She  called  to  us  and  said  she 
wanted  to  see  the  superintendent.  Brush 
went  to  find  him,  and  soon  returned  with 
that  official. 

"Tell  the  White-chest,"  said  the  woman 
to  Brush,  "that  I  have  brought  my  two 
boys  to  stay  here.  They  wanted  to  come,  so 
27 


The  Middle  Five 

I  have  brought  them.  Their  father  is  dead ; 
they  have  been  my  only  comfort ;  but  they 
want  to  learn  to  write.  I  hope  he  will  be 
kind  to  them." 

"  They  are  bright-looking  boys,"  said  the 
superintendent,  shaking  hands  with  the 
mother.  "  I  will  take  good  care  of  them." 

The  boys  dismounted,  and  the  woman  pre 
pared  to  go.  She  kissed  each  of  the  little 
fellows  and  wiped  a  tear  from  her  eyes. 

"  Don't  cry,  mother,"  said  the  older  boy ; 
"we'll  be  all  right.  We  will  come  home 
often  to  see  you." 

We  watched  the  mother  as  she  went 
down  the  hill,  leading  her  horse  and  the 
colt,  until  she  disappeared  at  a  turn  on  the 
bottom. 

"  Well,  Brush,  here  's  a  job  for  you  and 
Frank,"  said  the  superintendent.  "  Take 
these  boys  to  the  dormitory  and  give  them 
a  good  wash,  then  bring  them  to  the  store 
room,  and  I  will  see  if  I  can  fit  them  each 
with  a  suit  of  clothes." 

We  did  as  we  were  told,  and  while  the 
superintendent  was  busy  fitting  the  boys, 
Brush  and  I  went  into  a  large  room  and 
28 


Brush 

selected  a  bedstead  for  them.  We  put  it 
together  alongside  of  our  bed,  and  began  to 
cord  it. 

"Brush,  why  do  the  Omahas  call  the 
missionaries  *  White-chests  '  ? "  I  asked,  as  I 
pressed  the  cord  from  the  foot  to  the  head 
of  the  bed  to  tighten  it. 

"It's  because  the  men  wear  stiff  white 
shirts,  and  they  show  on  their  chests,  that 's 
why,"  he  answered,  throwing  the  mattress 
on  the  bed. 

Brush  and  I  soon  became  much  attached 
to  Lester  and  Warren,  as  the  new-comers 
were  named,  and  we  lost  no  time  in  helping 
them  along  in  their  English.  By  our  assist 
ance  and  persistent  use  of  the  language  with 
them,  the  two  boys  made  rapid  progress,  and 
it  was  not  long  before  they  were  chattering 
in  broken  English,  like  the  rest  of  us. 


Chapter    III 

Edwin 

I  1ST  one  of  the  little  houses  of  the  vil 
lage  of  the  "  Make-believe  White-men  " 
there  sat  on  the  floor  of  the  room,  which 
served  as  parlor,  kitchen,  dining,  and  bed 
room,  a  man  and  a  woman.  There  was  but 
one  window  to  the  room,  and,  the  weather 
being  warm,  the  door  stood  wide  open  to  let 
in  more  light  for  the  workers  within.  The 
man  was  cutting  with  great  care  a  large 
piece  of  moistened  rawhide  into  narrow 
strips  to  be  braided  for  a  long  lariat,  and 
from  time  to  time  he  softly  whistled  a  tune 
that  was  running  through  his  head.  Directly 
under  the  window  sat  the  woman ;  around 
her  were  strewn  little  workbags,  awls,  bits 
of  deer-skin,  and  shreds  of  sinew.  Patiently 
she  worked,  pushing  the  point  of  the  sharp 
awl  through  the  edges  of  the  leggings  she 
was  making,  and  drawing  the  finely  twisted 
sinew  thread  through  the  perforation. 

"  We  are  the  only  ones  in  the  village  who 
have  n't  sent  any  children  to  the  House  of 
30 


Edwin 

Teaching,"  said  the  woman,  without  look 
ing  up  from  her  sewing,  continuing  a  conver 
sation  the  two  were  having.  "  Ma-wa'-da-ne 
has  sent  his  boy,  the  only  one  he  has.  The 
man  is  lame,  you  know,  and  needs  help ;  yet 
he  wanted  the  boy  to  go,  because  he  thinks 
some  good  will  come  of  it  to  the  child  in  the 
future.  Then  look  at  your  friend  E-sta'-ma- 
za,  a  man  of  great  knowledge  and  foresight, 
he  has  sent  his  only  boy  and  three  daughters. 
There  must  be  some  good  in  it ;  we  ought  to 
send  one  of  our  boys  at  least." 

The  man  took  up  a  round  stone  and 
whetted  his  knife ;  then,  as  he  felt  the  edge 
with  his  thumb,  he  replied,  "  I  don't  want 
the  little  one  to  go.  Why  don't  you  send 
the  two  big  boys  ;  they  're  hardly  ever  home 
anyway,  and  they  might  as  well  be  at  the 
house  of  the  White-chests  as  anywhere  else. 
What  would  the  house  be  without  the  little 
one  ?  We  'd  be  very  lonely,  at  least  I  'd 
be." 

"  I  am  just  as  fond  of  him  as  you  are,  and 
would  miss  him  just  as  much;  but  he  is 
the  brightest  of  them  all,"  said  the  woman, 
rising  and  stirring  something  that  was  boil* 


The  Middle  Five 

ing  and  sputtering  in  a  pot  on  the  stove. 
"He  could  learn  faster  than  either  of  the 
older  boys,"  she  continued.  "  Before  many 
years  have  gone,  our  dealings  will  be  mostly 
with  the  white  people  who  are  coming  to 
mingle  with  us ;  and,  to  have  relations  with 
them  of  any  kind,  some  of  us  must  learn 
their  language  and  familiarize  ourselves  with 
their  customs.  That  is  what  these  men  who 
send  their  children  to  the  White-chests  are 
looking  forward  to,  and  they  love  their  boys 
as  much  as  we  do  ours." 

There  was  silence  for  some  moments. 
The  man  fastened  the  ends  of  the  rawhide 
strips  to  a  peg  in  the  floor  and  began  to 
braid  them.  At  length  he  said,  "  Where 
is  the  boy ;  he  has  n't  been  in  all  the 
morning.  When  do  you  want  him  to 
go?" 

"  He  might  as  well  go  now,  to-day,  the 
sooner  the  better.  Of  course  he 's  down  by 
the  creek  with  his  little  bow  and  arrows." 

"  Well,  wife,  I  wish  you  would  go  and  call 
him.  I  don 't  want  these  strips  to  dry  on 
me  while  I  am  braiding  them." 

The  woman  went  to   the  banks  of   the 
32 


Edwin 

little  stream  that  ran  by  the  village,  and 
called  in  a  shrill  voice,  "  Oo-ma'-a-be ! 
Oo-ma'-a-be !  " 

"  I  'm  coming  ! "  shouted  a  bareheaded, 
black-eyed  little  boy,  just  as  he  shot  a  blue- 
joint  grass  arrow  at  a  frog  that  had  poked 
his  head  above  the  surface  of  the  water  to 
see  what  was  going  on  in  the  outer  world. 
Forgetting  the  call,  the  lad  went  stealthily 
on  up  the  stream  with  another  arrow  strung, 
looking  for  other  frogs  that  might  be  hunt 
ing  for  flies  or  mosquitoes,  or  enjoying  the 
kisses  of  the  warm  sunshine  in  some  pleasant 
nook. 

"  What  can  the  boy  be  doing  ? "  said 
the  woman  to  herself,  then  she  called  again, 
this  time  emphasizing  the  first  syllable  of 
the  name  to  indicate  that  she  was  losing 
patience,  "  Oo'-ma-a-be  !  " 

With  reluctant  steps  the  boy  made  his 
way  toward  his  mother,  peering  as  he  went 
into  the  tall  grass  to  see  if  a  grasshopper  or 
any  other  creature  might  be  exposing  itself 
to  the  arrows  of  a  sport-loving  lad. 

"  Why  did  you  not  come  when  I  first 
called  you  ? "  asked  the  woman  as  she  took 
3  33 


The  Middle  Five 

the   child  by  the  hand  and  led  him   with 
quickened  steps  toward  the  little  house. 

As  the  mother  and  son  entered,  the  father 
looked  up  with  a  pleasant  smile,  and  address 
ing  the  boy  said,  "  Your  mother  went  to  call 
you  because  she  wants  us  to  go  to  the  house 
of  the  White-chests,  where  you  are  to  stay 
and  learn  to  write.  Now  wash  your  hands 
and  face,  and  make  yourself  look  nice,  so 
they  will  be  pleased  with  you;  then  we 
will  go." 

The  mother  had  the  water  ready,  and  be 
gan  scrubbing  the  face  and  neck  of  the  lad, 
while  the  candidate  for  scholarship  was 
pressing  his  lips  tightly  together  and  squint 
ing  his  eyes  to  exclude  the  soap  that  per 
sisted  in  getting  into  them.  Then  followed 
the  brushing  of  the  hair,  which  was  equally 
irksome  to  the  boy,  and  he  unconsciously 
leaned  farther  and  farther  away  until  he 
was  pulled  to  again  by  the  fond  parent. 

When  both  face  and  hair  shone,  the 
mother  kissed  her  boy  and  announced  to 
her  husband  that  the  child  was  ready.  The 
father  rose  to  go  with  him,  but  the  boy  held 
back. 

34 


Edwin 

"What  is  it?"  asked  the  father;  "are 
you  not  willing  to  go  ? " 

"  I  am  willing  to  go,"  answered  Oo-ma'- 
a-be,  "  but  I  want  to  put  on  my  embroidered 
moccasins  and  leggings  and  my  little  buffalo 
robe." 

The  husband  and  wife  looked  at  each 
other  smiling,  and  let  the  youngster  have 
his  own  way,  so  he  was  decked  out  in  his 
gorgeous  costume.  He  folded  himself  up 
in  his  robe,  which  was  beautifully  orna 
mented  with  porcupine  quills  of  exquisite 
colors,  he  twisted  his  body  and  neck  to  see  if 
he  looked  well,  then  said  he  was  ready  to  go. 

In  the  school-room  a  class  of  big  boys 
and  girls  were  learning  to  read  in  concert :  — 

"  The  boy  stood  on  the  burning  deck, 
Whence  all  but  he  had  fled." 

Again  and  again  the  teacher  made  them 
read  the  lines,  but  each  time  some  one  would 
either  lag  behind  or  read  faster  than  the 
others.  While  this  was  going  on  I  was 
busy  with  my  spelling  lesson,  as  my  class 
came  after  the  one  now  hard  at  work  with 
the  boy  "  on  the  burning  deck." 
35 


The  Middle  Five 

There  was  a  click ;  I  raised  my  eyes  and 
looked  toward  the  door;  it  slowly  opened, 
then  a  tall  man  and  a  boy  silently  entered. 
I  recognized  them  at  once  ;  the  man  was  a 
friend  of  my  father  and  the  lad  one  of  my 
playmates  on  my  weekly  visits  home.  The 
class  on  the  floor  was  dismissed  with  a 
lecture  on  reading,  and  Gray-beard  turned 
to  call,  "  Next  class,"  when  he  discovered 
the  man  and  boy  sitting  on  a  bench  near 
the  door. 

"How  do  you  do,  Wa-hon'-e-ga ? "  said 
Gray-beard,  approaching  the  Indian  with 
outstretched  hand. 

"  Ka-gae'-ha ! "  (Friend)  responded  the 
Indian,  his  face  brightening.  Then  in  a 
low  tone  he  called  me  to  him  and  said,  "  I 
have  brought  your  grandfather  here  to  stay 
with  you.  Be  as  good  to  each  other  as  you 
have  always  been,  and  try  to  learn  the  lan 
guage  of  the  White-chests." 

The  boy  was  a  distant  relative,  and,  follow 
ing  the  peculiar  system  of  kinship  among 
the  Indians,  there  was  no  impropriety  in  my 
addressing  him  as  my  grandfather,  although 
we  preferred  to  call  each  other  friend. 

36 


Edwin 

"What  does  Wa-hon'-e-ga  want  ?"  asked 
Gray-beard,  putting  his  hand  on  my  shoulder. 

"  My  friend/'  replied  the  Indian,  looking 
with  a  kindly  smile  into  the  face  of  the 
teacher,  "  my  wife  wishes  her  son,  this  boy, 
to  learn  to  speak  the  language  of  the  Big- 
knives,  [English]  so  I  have  come  with  him. 
We  have  brought  him  up  with  great  care,  and 
I  think  he  will  give  you  no  trouble." 

"  Tell  him,"  said  Gray-beard,  "  I  am  very 
glad  he  has  brought  the  boy,  and  we  will  do 
our  best  for  him." 

The  Indian  turned  and  with  silent  dig 
nity  left  the  room. 

"  Now,  children,"  said  Gray-beard,  taking 
out  the  school  register  and  looking  at  us, 
"we  have  a  new  boy  here,  and  we  must 
select  a  good  name  for  him ;  what  have  you 
to  suggest  ? " 

We  promptly  called  him  Edwin  M.  Stan- 
ton,  and  he  was  registered  by  that  name. 

Brush  and  I  were  detailed  to  take  Edwin 
to  the  store-room  and  fit  him  with  a  new 
suit  of  clothes.  When  he  was  dressed ;  we 
tied  up  his  fine  Indian  costume  in  a  neat 
bundle  to  be  returned  to  his  father. 
37 


The  Middle  Five 

At  the  supper-table  Edwin,  and  I  sat 
together.  I  showed  him  how  to  bow  his 
head  when  the  blessing  was  asked,  and  to 
turn  his  plate.  He  silently  followed  my 
whispered  instructions,  and  was  very  quiet 
while  supper  was  going  on,  but  during  the 
religious  exercises  which  followed,  when  we 
dropped  on  our  knees,  he  became  very 
anxious  to  know  why  we  did  so.  He  shuffled 
a  good  deal  in  his  position,  and  after  a  while 
stood  up  and  looked  around.  I  pulled  him 
down,  and  he  demanded  out  loud,  "  What 
are  we  hiding  for  ?  This  is  the  way  we  do 
when  we  are  hiding  in  the  grass." 

I  gave  him  a  good  dig  in  the  ribs.  "  That 
hurts  ! "  he  cried.  I  whispered  to  him  to 
be  quiet,  but  before  long  he  was  fidgeting 
again.  Just  as  the  superintendent  lowered 
his  voice  at  an  earnest  passage  in  his  prayer 
Edwin  spoke  out  again,  in  a  louder  tone 
than  befoie,  "  I  Ve  got  a  dog ;  he  can  catch 
rabbits ! " 

Gray-beard  lifted  his  head,  and  the  super 
intendent  paused  in  his  fervent  appeal  and 
looked    toward    us ;    he   rapped   with    his 
knuckles  on  the  table,  and  said,  in  a  severe 
3* 


Edwin 

tone,  "  Boys,  you  must  be  silent  and  listen 
when  I  pray." 

I  whispered  to  Edwin  that  he  must  keep 
still  until  we  got  out. 

As  we  were  going  to  bed  that  night  Edwin 
said,  "  Ka-gae'-ha  [Friend],  let  you  and  me 
sleep  together ;  I  don't  want  to  sleep  with 
any  one  else." 

Lester  too  wanted  to  sleep  with  me ;  so  it 
was  arranged  among  us  that  Brush  and 
Warren  should  have  the  double  bed,  and 
Edwin,  Lester,  and  I  were  to  have  the  wide 
bed  for  three. 

After  we  had  settled  down,  Edwin  began 
talking,  "When  we  finished  eating,"  he 
said,  "we  turned  around  and  the  old  man 
began  to  talk,  then  you  all  sang.  I  like  to 
hear  you  sing ;  you  Ve  got  a  good  voice. 
Then  we  went  down  on  our  knees,  just  as 
though  we  were  hiding  in  the  grass ;  what 
did  we  do  that  for  ?  The  old  man  talked  a 
long  time  ;  was  he  telling  a  story  ?  I  know 
a  great  many  of  them ;  I  know  one  about 
a  dog.  He  was  a  man,  but  he  was  turned 
into  a  dog.  I  '11  tell  it  to  you." 

I  did  n't  say  anything,  so  Edwin  began : 
39 


The  Middle  Five 

"  Far  back  in  the  earliest  times  there  dwelt 
in  a  little  village  a  man  and  his  wife.  They 
had  only  one  child  living,  a  son  whom  they 
loved  to  adoration.  He  was  so  handsome  a 
youth  that  whenever  he  walked  through  the 
village  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  him  with 
admiration.  One  day  he  asked  his  mother 
to  make  him  a  separate  tent.  When  it  was 
done  he  went  into  it,  and  there  spent  four 
days  and  nights  in  solitude,  neither  eating 
nor  drinking.  Then  he  came  out  and  spoke 
to  his  father  and  mother  and  said,  "  I  am 
going  away  to  be  gone  a  long  time,  perhaps 
never  to  return.  I  go  to  meet  the  White- 
swan,  the  magician  who  sent  my  brothers  to 
the  abode  of  shadows,  and,  in  conflict,  with 
magic  opposing  his  magic,  I  will  destroy  him 
or  die  as  my  brothers  have  died."  The 
father  and  mother,  remembering  the  fate 
of  their  other  children,  wept  and  pleaded 
with  their  son  not  to  leave  them,  but  he 
was  determined  to  go. 

The  young  man  travelled  many  days,  when 

one  morning  he  beheld  a  maiden  sitting  on 

the  brow  of  a  hill.     He  went  to  her  and 

asked  why  she  sat  there  all  alone.     With- 

40 


Edwin 

out  lifting  her  eyes,  modesty  forbidding  her 
to  return  his  gaze,  the  maiden  replied,  "  I 
go  to  marry  Hm-hpe'-ah-gre."  The  youth 
was  seized  with  fear  lest  the  young  woman 
might  be  the  White-swan  transformed  to 
beguile  him ;  but  being  struck  by  her  maid 
enly  bearing,  and  becoming  enamoured  of 
her  beauty,  he  turned  aside  from  suspicion 
and  permitted  himself  to  be  persuaded  that 
the  fair  creature  before  him  was  in  reality 
one  of  his  own  kind.  And  so  he  spoke  and 
said,  "I  am  he,  Hm-hpe'-ah-gre,  the  man 
whom  you  seek  to  follow."  In  reply  the 
maiden  said,  "It  makes  my  heart  throb 
with  delight  to  meet  and  to  see  with  my 
own  eyes  the  man  I  am  to  marry.  Sit 
down  and  rest  your  head  in  my  lap,  and 
when  the  weariness  of  travel  has  left  you, 
I  shall  follow  you  wherever  you  may  lead." 
Joy  filling  the  heart  of  the  youth,  and  no 
longer  troubled  with  misgivings,  he  laid  his 
head  upon  the  lap  of  the  maiden  and  soon 
fell  fast  asleep. 

"  Tha  !  Tha !  "  exclaimed  the  woman, 
using  a  word  of  magic,  and  four  times,  in 
quick  succession,  she  pulled  the  ears  of  the 


The  Middle  Five 

young  man.  He  awoke  with  a  start  and 
attempted  to  rise,  but  a  transformation  had 
taken  place,  instead  of  a  man  standing  up 
right,  he  found  himself  to  be  a  four-footed 
beast.  His  body  had  changed,  but  his 
reason  was  still  that  of  a  man.  He  turned 
to  see  his  companion,  and  lo !  he  beheld,  not 
the  beautiful  maiden  in  whose  lap  he  had 
fallen  asleep,  but  one  who  looked  down 
upon  him  with  contempt,  and  whom  he 
knew  to  be  the  White-swan.  The  thought 
that  he  had  been  outwitted  came  to  the 
young  man  like  a  flash,  and  as  swiftly 
his  magic  word  returned  to  his  mind.  He 
tried  to  utter  it,  but  he  only  yelped  and 
gave  a  dismal  howl  like  that  of  a  dog. 
A  cringing,  mangy,  lop-eared  dog,  he  now 
followed  the  White-swan  and  —  Are  you 
asleep  ? " 

I  was  almost  asleep,  so  I  did  not  answer 
him,  then  he  became  silent.  When  I  awoke 
Edwin  was  gone ;  I  called  him  but  he  did 
not  answer.  Brush  and  I  went  downstairs 
and  called  softly  in  the  school-room,  but 
the  boy  was  not  there,  then  we  went  to  the 
large  door  of  the  hall  and  found  it  unbolted. 
42 


Edwin 

We  returned  to  the  dormitory  and  went  to 
bed,  and  I  soon  fell  asleep  again. 

Toward  morning  I  was  awakened  by 
strange  sounds  on  the  stairs  leading  up  to 
our  dormitory.  I  recognized  the  footsteps 
of  a  human  being,  but  there  were  other 
footsteps  that  were  like  those  of  a  four- 
footed  beast.  They  approached  my  bed; 
they  came  near,  and  a  voice  said  in  Indian 
in  a  loud  whisper,  "  Lie  down,  lie  down  ! " 

"  Is  it  you,  Oo-ma'-a-be  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes,  I  Ve  been  after  my  dog,"  he  an 
swered,  getting  into  bed  with  his  clothes  on. 

"Get  up  and  undress;  you  can't  sleep 
with  your  clothes  on !  What  did  you  go 
after  the  dog  for  ? " 

"  I  wanted  you  to  see  him,  and  I  thought 
we  'd  keep  him  here.  He  is  a  fine  dog ;  he 
can  swim  too  !  " 

"  But  were  you  not  afraid  ?  It  was 
dark." 

"  I  forgot  all  about  being  afraid,  and  I 
went  right  by  that  big  grave  too,  —  the  one 
they  say  a  ghost  comes  out  of  and  chases 
people.  I  ran,  though,  all  <the  way  to  my 
house.  The  dog  was  lying  near  the  door ;  he 
43 


The  Middle  Five 

was  so  glad  to  see  me  he  almost  knocked 
me  down." 

It  was  nearly  morning,  and  we  went  right 
off  to  sleep.  Suddenly  we  were  aroused  by 
a  furious  barking.  Brush,  Edwin,  and  I 
sprang  out  of  bed,  and  rushed  for  the  dog 
that  with  legs  spread  was  defending  the  top 
of  the  stairs. 

"  Boys,  what  have  you  up  there  ? "  called 
Gray-beard  from  the  foot. 

"  Edwin  went  after  his  dog  last  night," 
answered  Brush.  "He  wants  to  keep  it 
here." 

"He  does,  eh!    Will  it  bite?" 

"  No,  it  won't  bite ;  you  can  come  up." 


44 


Chapter  IV 

Little  Bob 

^TTVEE  afternoon  session  was  over ;  Gray- 
beard  tapped  his  bell ;  we  put  away 
our  books,  folded  our  arms,  and  when  there 
was  silence  the  teacher  spoke :  "  Frank  will 
remain  here  until  he  finishes  correctly  the 
sum  he  is  working  on.  He  has  neglected 
his  arithmetic  lesson  during  school  hours, 
so  he  will  have  to  do  the  work  after  school." 

Such  punishment  had  not  happened  to 
me  before.  It  had  frequently  come  to  other 
scholars,  and  I  had  felt  sorry  for  them ;  but 
now  the  disgrace  had  fallen  on  me,  and  I 
felt  it  keenly. 

Gray-beard  led  the  song  about  "  The  Little 
Brown  Church  in  the  Wild  Wood,"  and  the 
whole  school  sang ;  but  just  then  I  did  not 
care  for  brown  churches  or  churches  of  any 
other  color,  so  my  voice  did  not  mingle  with 
that  of  the  other  pupils.  Then  they  sang 
"  Lord  dismiss  us,"  but  as  I  was  not  dis 
missed  I  did  not  join  in  the  singing  of  that 
familiar  hymn. 

45 


The  Middle  Five 

Brush,  Edwin,  and  the  rest  of  my  com 
panions  lingered  awhile  in  the  school-room 
to  keep  me  company ;  but  as  they  had  work 
to  do  they  could  not  stay  long,  so  I  was  left 
alone  to  struggle  with  a  lot  of  ugly  fractions. 
My  thoughts  ran  in  every  direction,  off  to 
my  home,  to  the  boys  at  play,  and  anywhere 
but  on  my  task.  I  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  bring  myself  around  to  the  problem  that 
held  me  a  prisoner  by  keeping  a  steady  gaze 
into  the  deep  blue  sky  through  the  open 
window,  and  then  slowly  the  solution  of 
that  detestable  sum  came  to  my  mind,  and 
I  had  it.  I  put  it  on  my  slate,  compared  it 
with  the  answer  left  me  by  Gray-beard, 
found  it  correct,  and  my  work  was  done. 

I  arose,  put  my  books  away,  and  stood 
near  the  teacher's  desk  wondering  what  to 
do  next,  when  all  of  a  sudden  the  door  burst 
open  and  in  rushed  a  little  boy,  crying.  He 
was  without  his  hat,  his  coat  unbuttoned, 
and  shoestrings  untied.  Following  swiftly 
on  the  little  chap  came  a  large  boy  who,  for 
some  reason,  was  angered  at  the  fleeing  lad, 
and  was  now  pursuing  to  punish  him.  The 
little  boy  ran  around  the  stove,  then  toward 
46 


Little  Bob 

me  and  got  behind  me.  The  big  boy  pushed 
on  in  his  vengeful  pursuit,  and  reached  to 
grasp  the  object  of  his  anger  when  I  struck 
at  him  with  my  fist.  The  blow  fell  on  his 
forehead,  he  stood  for  a  moment  stunned ; 
then  he  sprang  at  me ;  we  dealt  each  other 
blow  after  blow,  and  in  our  mad  charges  we 
knocked  over  benches  and  desks.  How  it 
happened  I  do  not  know,  for  in  my  excite 
ment  I  could  not  tell  where  I  struck  him,  or 
where  he  struck  me,  but  suddenly  my  an 
tagonist  put  his  hands  to  his  stomach, 
doubled  over  and  could  not  breathe.  I  be 
came  frightened.  At  length,  with  a  suc 
cession  of  hiccoughs,  the  boy  recovered 
his  breath,  picked  up  his  hat,  and  went 
out. 

I  straightened  out  the  benches  and  desks 
that  we  had  knocked  over,  and  then  sat 
down  to  cool  off.  When  I  had  rested,  I 
called  to  the  round-headed  little  chap  who 
stood  trembling  in  the  corner  holding  up  his 
trousers,  for  in  his  attempts  to  escape  he  had 
lost  the  buttons  to  his  pants,  "What  did 
you  do  to  that  boy ;  what  did  he  want  to  hit 
you  for  ? " 

47 


The  Middle  Five 

"I  didn't  do  nothin',"  he  answered,  hitch 
ing  up  his  garments  as  he  came  toward 
me. 

"  What 's  your  name  ? " 

"  Robert  Brown." 

"  Where  you  live  ? " 

"  In  your  village,  in  that  little  house  near 
Ou-ni-ja-bi's." 

"  That  's  Ne-ma-ha's  house." 

"  Yes,  that 's  my  father." 

And  so  it  was  the  son  of  that  man  for 
whom  I  was  all  bruised  up. 

Ne-ma-ha  was  the  poorest  man  in  my 
father's  village,  and  had  no  recognition 
among  the  prominent  men  of  the  tribe, 
although  he  had  been  the  priest  or  heredi 
tary  keeper  of  the  sacred  tent  of  war.  It  was 
only  by  the  performance  of  valorous  deeds 
that  men  won  honors  in  the  tribe ;  but  this 
man  had  no  ambition  to  win  such  honors. 
As  a  hunter  he  was  also  a  total  failure,  con 
sequently  his  worldly  possessions  were  not 
such  as  could  give  him  distinction.  Like 
his  brother,  who  was  struck  by  lightning,  he 
deserted  his  sacred  charge  through  craven 
superstitious  fear,  and,  having  lost  his 
48 


Little  Bob 

priestly  position,  he  had  become  a  useless 
member  of  the  tribe. 

"What's  your  Omaha  name?"  I  asked, 
as  I  pinned  his  trousers  to  his  suspenders 
with  sharp  sticks  and  nails. 

"  They  call  me  Hae-th'na'-ta,"  he  replied, 
wiping  his  face  with  the  end  of  his  coat 
sleeve. 

The  youngster  belonged  to  the  Elk  band 
of  the  tribe,  hence  the  boy's  name,  the  Eng 
lish  translation  of  which  is,  horns  forked, 
meaning  the  forked-horned  elk.  How  he 
came  by  his  English  name  I  do  not  know. 

From  this  time  on  the  lad  was  always 
near  me,  and  gradually  became  my  devoted 
follower.  Although  at  first  I  did  not  care 
for  him  much,  he  finally  won  my  friendship 
by  his  faithfulness  and  good  nature.  He 
always  assisted  me  as  far  as  his  strength 
would  permit  in  the  work  assigned  me 
about  the  school;  thus  it  was  that  Little 
Bob,  as  he  was  familiarly  known,  became  a 
satellite  to  the  group  to  which  I  belonged, 
and  so  safe  from  the  attacks  of  the  other 
boys. 

Brush,  Edwin,  Warren,  Lester,  and  I  were 
4  49 


The  Middle  Five 

now  recognized  by  all  the  boys  of  the  school 
as  a  "  gang,"  and  were  spoken  of  as  "  the 
Middle  Five."  We  had  fallen  into  this 
close  companionship  without  any  formal 
arrangement,  and  we  were  regarded  as  the 
strongest  group  between  the  Big  Seven  and 
the  other  "gangs." 


Chapter   V 
Warren 

BEUSH  was  a  genius  as  a  whittler. 
He  had  only  one  tool,  and  that  was 
a  rusty  jack-knife  with  a  single  broken 
blade,  and  that  blade  was  kept  sharp  almost 
to  the  keenness  of  a  razor.  He  would  take  a 
shapeless  piece  of  wood,  cut  here,  cut  there, 
scrape  at  one  place,  then  at  another,  and  go 
through  a  series  of  twists  and  turns  of  his 
strong,  deft  hands,  and  at  last,  with  a 
triumphant  smile,  hold  up  to  view  a  wooden 
horse,  buffalo,  or  some  other  animal.  He 
had  just  now  finished  a  little  plough  which 
he  had  been  carving  for  some  time,  and  we, 
the  Middle  Five,  sat  in  the  shade  of  a  tree 
noisily  discussing  the  accuracy  of  the  work. 

"  Brush,  that 's  pretty  good,  it 's  just  .like 
the  ploughs  I  Ve  seen/'  I  remarked  as  I  passed 
the  toy  to  Edwin. 

"  'Tain 't  good,"  said  Edwin,  after  he  had 
examined  it  a  while.  "  I  think  the  handles 
are  too  straight." 

"  This  ought  to  be  kind  of  crooked,  come 
51 


The  Middle  Five 

down  like  this,"  put  in  Lester,  indicating 
with  his  finger  the  outline  of  the  beam  as  it 
should  have  been,  according  to  his  notion. 

Our  heads  were  close  together  looking  at 
the  plough,  when  a  sudden  consciousness  as  of 
the  presence  of  something  disagreeable  stole 
upon  us.  A  sound  like  the  snapping  of  a 
twig  made  us  all  look  up,  and  there  stood 
Jim,  a  big  boy,  one  of  the  worst  that  ever 
entered  our  school,  and  who  had  been  ex 
cluded  from  all  the  "  gangs  "  on  account  of 
his  vicious,  meddlesome  disposition.  With 
a  contemptuous  grin,  he  passed  his  eyes 
from  one  boy  to  the  other,  as  though  to  dis 
cern  the  character  of  each  one.  When  this 
unpleasant  stare  fell  upon  Warren,  he 
bristled  up,  gave  back  a  defiant  look,  and 
kept  it  steadily  upon  the  unwelcome  visitor. 
Without  relaxing  the  mirthless  smile,  so 
characteristic  of  him,  Jim  addressed  the 
boy,  "  Warren,  I  just  come  from  the  spring, 
where  a  lot  of  boys  was  talking.  I  heard 
Gid  say  that  he  could  lick  you.  I  told  him 
I  'd  come  and  tell  you  what  he  said.  Then 
he  says, '  I  don't  care,  I  ain't  'fraid  of  him  ! ' ' 

"You  go  and  tell  Gid,"  said  Warren, 
52 


Warren 

springing  to  his  feet,  "  I  can  lick  two  like 
him,  and  I  '11  show  him  any  time  he  wants 
me  to," 

The  mischief-maker  had  read  well  the 
character  of  Warren,  and  had  won  from  him 
the  expected  reply. 

We  resumed  our  examination  of  the 
plough  thinking  that  our  interview  with  the 
tale-bearer  had  ended.  Jim  thrust  his  hands 
into  his  pockets,  and  walked  uneasily  about; 
he  came  to  where  little  Bob  was  sitting,  and, 
pulling  out  a  warty  hand,  he  pointed  his 
finger  at  the  boy's  face,  making  a  hissing 
sound  between  his  teeth.  Jim  never  passed 
by  a  chance  to  tease  a  smaller  boy.  Bob 
put  his  hands  to  his  face  and  began  crying. 
We  all  rose  to  our  feet ;  Edwin  moved  for 
ward  in  a  threatening  attitude,  and  said, 
"  Jim,  you  let  that  boy  alone.  What  you 
want  to  tease  him  for  ?  " 

Jim  turned  away,  looked  up  into  a  tree, 
threw  a  stone  at  a  bird,  and  then  slowly 
sauntered  off. 

We  sat  down  again  to  resume  our  talk 
about  Brush's  little  plough,  but  our  minds 
seemed  to  turn  in  another  direction. 
53 


The  Middle  Five 

"  I  don't  want  Warren  to  fight  Gideon," 
said  Edwin ;  "  he 's  a  bad  fellow,  that  Gideon 
is.  He  don't  fight  fair." 

"  But  he  can't  back  out,"  spoke  up  Lester, 
"  and  I  don't  want  him  to.  I  don't  want 
the  rest  of  the  boys  to  think  he 's  'fraid." 

"  Warren 's  got  to  fight  Gid,"  exclaimed 
Brush.  "  If  he  only  kept  quiet  and  did  n't 
say  anything  when  Jim  told  him  what  Gid 
said,  it  would  be  all  right  and  no  fight ;  but 
now  everybody  knows  what  Warren  said, 
and  he  can't  back  out  without  the  boys 
thinking  he  's  a  coward.  We  will  see  that 
Gid  fights  fair,  and,  if  he  don't,  we  will 
thrash  his  whole  '  gang/  Warren  can  use 
his  arms  and  fists  all  right;  but  he  can't 
wrestle  very  good.  Frank,  you'd  better 
show  him  some  of  those  new  holds." 

Warren  and  I  took  several  rounds  in 
which  I  showed  him  a  number  of  new 
tricks  I  had  learned  from  a  good  wrestler. 
There  was  quite  an  important  one  of  which 
he  was  ignorant ;  I  gave  him  some  lessons  in 
that ;  then  we  sat  down  to  talk  over  the 
challenge  again  with  the  rest  of  the  boys. 

"  I  think  Warren  can  throw  Gid  right 
54 


Warren 

easy,"  I  said ;  "  if  lie  can  remember  that 
waist  and  chin  trick,  and  the  way  to  break 
it,  he  can  down  Gid  every  time." 

"  Bemember  that ! "  warned  Lester,  look 
ing  at  his  brother.  "  If  Gid  plays  that 
waist  and  chin  trick,  you  do  just  what 
Frank  showed  you  to  do  to  break  it." 

While  we  were  talking,  we  heard  the  slap 
ping  of  bare  feet  upon  the  hard  ground,  and 
soon  a  boy  appeared  before  us,  imitating  the 
actions  of  a  spirited  horse.  "  Whoa'p  ! 
Whoa'p  ! "  he  called  repeatedly,  as  with  loud 
snorts  the  imaginary  steed  reared  and 
plunged  about;  finally  the  excited  animal 
came  to  a  standstill.  Looking  at  Warren, 
the  boy  said,  "  Gid  told  me  to  come  and  tell 
you,  he  will  meet  you  down  below  the 
barn,  at  the  east  gate,  right  after  school  this 
afternoon.  He  told  me  to  tell  you  again 
he  can  lick  you  good." 

After  some  prancing  about,  the  boy  ran 
off,  clapping  his  hips  with  his  hands  to 
imitate  the  sound  of  galloping  hoofs. 

Gideon  had  accepted  Warren's  challenge, 
and  we  had  no  misgivings  as  to  the  outcome, 
for  we  had  every  confidence  in  Warren's 
55 


The  Middle  Five 

courage  and  strength.  What  concerned  us 
most  was  Jim's  meddling  with  us  and  the 
means  by  which  we  could  prevent  his 
farther  interference  with  our  peace.  He 
had  made  trouble  with  other  "  gangs  "  just 
in  this  way.  We  were  still  discussing  this 
matter  when  the  school-bell  rang,  and  we 
went  to  the  house  together. 

The  boys  who  had  already  taken  their 
seats  looked  up  at  us  as  we  entered  the 
school-room,  then  they  turned  their  glances 
upon  Gideon  to  see  how  he  would  behave. 
The  two  boys,  Gideon  and  Warren,  stared 
at  each  other  defiantly ;  the  rest  saw  there 
was  no  courage  lacking  in  either,  and  they 
expected  a  lively  battle  between  the  two. 
Jim  pretended  to  be  studying ;  but  we  knew 
that  he  was  closely  watching  the  victims  of 
his  machinations  to  see  how  they  would  act. 
Jim  never  studied;  he  was  always  at  the 
foot  of  his  class,  and  boys  younger  than  he 
were  far  in  advance  of  him. 

At  last  the  monotonous  recitations  came 
to  an  end.  We  sang  a  song  about  "  Pretty 
little  zephyrs,"  then  Gray-beard  closed  the 
school  with  the  usual  religious  exercises. 

56 


Warren 

The  boys  gathered  in  groups  and  walked 
down  to  the  place  designated  for  the  com 
bat.  We  followed  slowly,  as  we  wanted 
time  to  give  all  the  instructions  necessary 
to  Warren.  A  large  ring  had  been  formed 
by  the  boys,  and  Gid  was  already  in  the 
centre  with  his  coat  off  and  his  sleeves 
rolled  up.  Jim  glanced  at  us  as  though 
impatient  for  our  coming.  As  we  neared 
the  ring,  some  one  said,  in  a  voice  loud 
enough  for  us  to  hear,  "  They  're  not  com 
ing  very  fast.  I  guess  they  're  'fraid ! " 

Brush  stepped  hastily  forward  and  asked, 
"  Who  said  we  're  afraid  ?  Whoever  said  it, 
let  him  come  out  here  and  I'll  show  him 
whether  we  're  afraid  or  not !  " 

No  one  answered.  There  were  few  boys 
in  the  school  who  would  without  fear  accept 
a  challenge  from  Brush. 

A  place  was  cleared  for  us,  and  Warren, 
after  handing  me  his  coat,  entered  the  ring. 
The  two  boys  approached  each  other  and 
stopped  within  a  few  feet. 

"  Did  you  tell  Jim  you  could  lick  me  ? " 
asked  Warren,  looking  his  opponent  square 
in  the  eye. 

57 


The  Middle  Five 

"  Yes.  And  I  can  do  it  too,"  was  the 
bold  reply. 

"  You  can't  do  it ! "  exclaimed  Warren, 
striking  Gideon  in  the  chest. 

Then  followed  an  exciting  scene.  Gideon 
rushed  at  Warren,  and  aimed  blow  after 
blow  at  his  face,  but  our  boy  skilfully  par 
ried  each  attack.  Kound  and  round  within 
the  ring  the  two  boys  carried  on  their  strife, 
neither  one  prevailing.  For  a  while  no  seri 
ous  blows  were  dealt,  finally,  in  an  unguarded 
moment  Warren  received  a  hard  thrust  in 
the  left  side  which  made  him  gasp ;  where 
at  Gid's  gang  shouted  in  chorus,  "  Choo-ie  ! " 
(An  exultant  exclamation  in  Omaha.)  After 
this  success  Gideon  grew  reckless  and  struck 
wildly,  and  Warren  was  a  little  too  anxious 
to  put  in  a  good  hit  before  the  proper  mo 
ment.  Gid  made  another  effort  at  his  antag 
onist's  ribs,  but  the  blow  fell  short ;  then 
Warren  made  a  lunge  at  Gid's  face ;  he 
dodged,  but  not  quickly  enough  to  save  his 
ear  from  a  bad  scraping  from  Warren's 
knuckles.  "  Choo-ie  !  "  cried  Lester  and 
the  rest  of  us  at  this  success ;  but  Gid's  next 
movement  threw  us  into  dismay,  he  had 

58 


Warren 

suddenly  seized  Warren  around  the  waist 
while  his  arms  were  uplifted.  Gid  put  his 
chin  against  Warren's  chest  and  began  pull 
ing  in  his  back.  Warren  tried  to  twist  Gid's 
neck  ;  but  there  was  no  use  in  that,  Warren 
was  slowly  giving  way.  If  he  should  fall 
the  battle  would  be  won  by  Gideon. 

"  Put  your  arms  under  his  and  push  !  "  I 
said  to  Warren  in  an  undertone.  I  could  n't 
help  doing  it. 

Isaac,  a  blustering  little  chap  and  one  of 
Gid's  "  gang "  overheard  me  ;  stepping  for 
ward  and  pointing  his  finger  at  me,  he 
angrily  exclaimed,  "  Frank,  you  know  that 
ain't  fair,  we  don't  do  that  way." 

"You  do  worse  than  that,"  I  retorted. 
"  The  whole  four  of  you  jumped  on  me  in 
the  school-room ;  that  was  n't  fair,  but  I 
licked  you !  Wait  till  Warren  and  Gid  get 
through,  then  I  '11  see  you  !  " 

Warren  had  heard  my  words,  and  acted 
on  them  at  once,  and  so  released  himself 
from  Gideon's  dangerous  grasp.  Then  they 
went  to  sparring  again.  In  making  a  thrust 
Warren  stumbled  on  a  round  stone  and  fell 
on  one  knee,  before  he  could  rise  Gid  put 
59 


The  Middle  Five 

in  a  blow  that  cut  Warren's  under  lip. 
"  Choo-ie  ! "  exclaimed  the  friends  of  Gid. 
It  seemed  for  a  moment  as  though  the 
victory  would  be  against  us.  The  struggle 
now  became  desperate.  Gid  was  blowing 
hard,  but  there  was  still  considerable  reserve 
of  strength  in  Warren.  Gid  repeatedly  tried 
to  grasp  his  antagonist's  waist,  but  was 
every  time  cleverly  brought  about  again  to 
fists. 

Warren's  shirt  front  was  bloody  and  his 
short  hair  stood  straight  up,  giving  him  a 
frightful  aspect.  Gid's  thrusts  and  parries 
now  grew  visibly  weaker,  but  he  showed  no 
signs  of  yielding.  He  lowered  his  fists  to 
give  an  under  cut,  thus  leaving  his  face  un 
guarded,  quick  as  a  flash  Warren's  right  arm 
shot  out,  and  with  a  sickening  thud  his  fist 
landed  square  on  Gid's  nose.  The  blood 
spurted ;  the  boy  was  stunned,  and,  before  he 
could  recover,  he  received  another  blow  on 
the  eye. 

The  fight  was  ended,  and  Gid's  friends 
dragged  him  away  more  dead  than  alive. 

Warren  came  to  us  smiling  as  widely  as 
his  swollen  lip  would  permit. 
60 


Warren 

"  You  did  first  rate,  old  boy  !  "  said  Brush, 
slapping  Warren's  back. 

"  He  11  never  want  to  fight  you  again," 
added  Lester. 

I  helped  Warren  to  put  on  his  coat,  then 
I  looked  around  to  see  where  Edwin  was. 
I  saw  him  standing  before  Jim,  who  was 
watching  us  with  his  wicked  grin.  They 
both  spoke,  but  I  could  not  hear  them  for 
the  noise  of  the  talk  around  me.  Suddenly 
Edwin's  long  arm  darted  out,  his  fist  came 
square  on  Jim's  cheek  with  a  resounding 
whack.  Jim's  face  became  livid,  and  the 
spot  upon  which  the  blow  fell  twitched 
convulsively.  When  the  natural  color  re 
turned  to  his  face,  Jim  deliberately  pulled 
off  his  coat;  he  was  going  to  fight  Edwin. 
It  was  an  uneven  match ;  Jim  stood  a  head 
taller  and  was  heavier  than  Edwin. 

"  What 's  the  matter  ? "  asked  Brush,  as  he 
came  up ;  <c  what  are  you  going  to  do  ? " 

"  We  're  going  to  fight,"  replied  Edwin  ; 
"  I  hit  him  because  he  made  that  trouble." 

"  Jim,"  said  Brush,  stepping  forward  and 
rolling  up  his  sleeves,  "  I  don't  think  it 
would  be  unfair  for  two  of  us  to  fight  you. 
61 


The  Middle  Five 

You  are  bigger  than  any  of  us,  so  I  am 
going  to  help  Edwin  to  thrash  you.  You  've 
been  making  mischief  for  others,  now  it 's 
going  to  conie  to  you." 

The  boys  gathered  around  the  three  to  see 
another  fight,  but  were  disappointed.  Jim 
made  no  further  demonstration,  but  stood 
looking  at  the  two  boys ;  at  last  he  muttered 
something  to  himself,  and,  picking  up  his 
coat,  pushed  his  way  out  of  the  crowd. 

All  the  boys  pointed  their  fingers  at  Jim, 
and  shouted,  "  Ah,  coward  !  "  Jim  turned 
his  head  and  looked  at  them  sulkily,  but 
went  on,  and  no  one  cared  to  follow  him. 


Chapter   VI 
Lester 

THE  hands  of  the  little  clock  on  Gray- 
beard's  desk  indicated  the  hour  of  two. 
The  midsummer's  sun  hurled  its  rays  with 
unrelenting  force  to  the  earth,  and  the  wind, 
as  though  consenting  to  the  attack,  withheld 
its  refreshing  breezes.  All  the  windows  of 
our  school-room  were  thrown  wide  open,  and 
the  hum  of  busy  insects  and  the  occasional 
cry  of  a  bird  were  the  only  sounds  that  re 
lieved  the  monotonous  stillness  outside. 

A  class,  with  Warren  at  the  head,  was  on 
the  floor.  The  girl  at  the  foot  was  read 
ing  in  a  tone  that  made  it  difficult  to  resist 
the  drowsiness  that  attacked  every  one  in 
the  room.  She  came  to  a  hard  word,  and, 
according  to  our  custom,  she  spelled  it. 
Gray-beard,  who  was  sitting  with  eyes  shut, 
pronounced  it  for  her  through  a  suppressed 
yawn.  A  few  more  words  brought  her  to 
the  end  of  the  paragraph. 

A  long  pause  followed ;  Warren  stood  with 
book  uplifted,  but  was  gazing  intently  on 
63 


The  Middle  Five 

something  outside.  The  teacher,  recovering 
from  an  overbalancing  nod,  opened  his  eyes 
slowly,  and  lazily  called,  "  Warren  !  "  The 
boy  did  not  stir.  Brush  and  I  looked  up 
from  our  desk,  and  shuffled  our  feet  to  at 
tract  his  attention.  "  Warren  ! "  again  called 
Gray-beard,  in  a  louder  tone.  Still  there 
was  no  response. 

Brush  tore  a  fly-leaf  out  of  his  book, 
rolled  it  hastily  into  a  ball,  and  threw  it  at 
Warren's  head,  but  missed  it. 

Gray-beard  turned  in  his  chair,  his  eyes 
rested  upon  the  boy,  who  was  still  looking 
fixedly  out  of  the  window.  Then  he  rose, 
stepped  softly  up  to  Warren,  seized  him  by 
the  shoulders  and  shook  him  violently,  say 
ing,  "  Are  you  asleep  ?  " 

"  Swarming ! "  rang  out  the  last  word  of 
the  sentence  which  Warren  was  making  a 
desperate  effort  to  utter. 

Gray-beard,  following  the  eyes  of  the  lad, 
looked  out  of  the  window,  "  Quick,  boys, 
to  the  dining-room,  take  anything  you  can 
make  a  noise  with ! "  he  exclaimed,  as  he 
sprang  to  the  door,  threw  it  open  with  a 
bang  and  disappeared. 


Lester 

We  leaped  over  desks,  and  tumbled  over 
each  other  as  we  rushed  with  impetuous 
haste  to  the  dining-room.  Brush  caught  up 
an  enormous  tin  pan,  Edwin  a  milk  pail,  and 
I  the  school  triangle;  the  rest  of  the  boys 
took  tin  pans  and  plates,  or  whatever  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on,  and  we  all  ran  out 
into  the  yard.  Warren  was  already  follow 
ing  the  humming  black  cloud,  ringing  the 
school-bell  with  all  his  might.  We  caught 
up  with  him,  and  began  beating  on  the  tin 
pans  with  our  knuckles,  keeping  up  a  con 
stant  yelling  like  a  lot  of  savages.  The 
noise  we  made  was  enough  to  drive  the 
bees  and  ourselves  insane.  It  was  bedlam 
let  loose.  On  we  went  through  the  barn 
yard,  up  the  hill,  and  into  the  woods,  closely 
following  the  flying  black  mass.  Three  boys 
carrying  small  mirrors  kept  throwing  flashes 
of  light  into  the  swarm. 

The  bees  made  a  straight  line  for  a  tall 
oak,  hovered  over  the  end  of  a  high  branch, 
and  then  settled  on  it.  We  gathered  around 
the  tree,  and  continued  our  unearthly  noise 
until  Gray-beard,  with  a  box  and  a  saw 
on  his  shoulder,  and  a  coil  of  rope  on  his 
5  65 


The  Middle  Five 

arm,  came  up  puffing  and  all  in  a  perspira 
tion. 

"  Have  they  settled  ? "  he  asked,  shading 
his  eyes  and  looking  up  into  the  tree. 

"  Yes,  there  they  are,"  answered  Brush, 
pointing  to  the  writhing  black  mass  on  the 
branch. 

"  Who  can  climb  ? "  said  Gray-beard, 
looking  around  among  the  boys.  No  one 
answered.  After  a  while  Edwin  spoke  up, 
"  Lester  climb  tree  like  wild-cat/ ' 

Lester  turned  and  looked  daggers  at 
him.  Brush  and  I  nudged  each  other 
and  giggled.  Edwin  was  playing  a  joke 
on  Lester. 

"  Come,"  said  Gray -beard,  "  there  's  no 
time  to  be  lost."  And  he  proceeded  to  tie 
the  end  of  the  rope  around  the  waist  of 
Lester,  who  had  not  recovered  from  his 
astonishment  and  was  given  no  time  to  put 
in  a  disclaimer  to  the  title  of  climber. 

Gray-beard  lifted  the  lad  up  as  high  as 
he  could,  then  the  boy  began  to  climb.  He 
went  up  slowly  but  surely,  dragging  the 
rope  after  him.  Edwin  shouted  words  of 
encouragement.  "  That 's  good,  go  ahead ! " 
66 


Lester 

he  would  exclaim  as  the  climber  made  now 
and  again  six  inches  or  so. 

"Wait  till  I  get  down,  I  show  you!" 
Lester  called  back.  Then  Edwin  turned  to 
us  and  grinned. 

The  limb  upon  which  the  bees  had  settled 
was  at  last  reached ;  the  boy  pulled  up  the 
hand-saw  that  was  tied  to  the  other  end  of 
the  rope.  He  looked  down  at  us  with  mis 
chief  in  his  face,  then  straddled  the  branch 
with  his  face  toward  the  trunk  of  the  tree 
and  began  to  saw.  Gray-beard,  seeing  this, 
called  up  in  great  excitement,  "  Stop  !  stop  ! 
Lester,  stop !  Turn  the  other  way."  The 
boy,  having  had  his  fun,  turned,  and,  moving 
as  near  to  the  bees  as  he  dared,  began  sawing 
slowly  until  the  branch  hung  down,  then  he 
severed  it.  It  did  not  fall  because  before 
he  began  to  saw  he  had  tied  one  end  of  the 
rope  near  to  the  bees,  and  had  fastened  the 
other  part  near  to  the  place  where  he  was 
sitting,  so  that  he  was  able  gradually  to 
lower  the  bees  to  the  ground. 

We  did  not  know  that  anything  had 
happened  to  Lester  until  he  came  down, 
then  we  saw  that  he  was  stung  on  the 
67 


The  Middle  Five 

eyebrow  and  his  face  was  swollen.  Brush 
moistened  a  bit  of  earth  and  smeared  it 
around  the  injured  part  to  prevent  further 
swelling,  but  it  did  no  good. 

Gray -beard  put  the  box  over  the  bees  and 
began  pounding  the  top,  "  Look  under  there, 
Frank,  and  see  if  they  are  going  up,"  he 
said ;  "  if  the  queen  goes,  they  will  all  go." 

I  crouched  to  the  ground  and  looked  into 
the  box ;  there  was  great  activity  and  noise. 
"  I  think  they  are  going  up,"  I  said. 

Suddenly  the  pounding  on  the  box  ceased ; 
I  heard  an  outcry  and  a  groan ;  I  looked  up, 
and  there  was  Gray-beard  rolling  on  the 
ground.  He  was  badly  stung  in  the  face. 
Brush  went  to  his  assistance  and  painted 
his  wounds  with  mud.  I  went  to  the  box 
and  pounded  as  Gray-beard  had  done. 

"  Look  under,  Warren,  and  see  what  they 
are  doing,"  I  said. 

Warren  put  his  head  to  the  ground  and 
looked,  "  I  guess  that  old  king  went  up ; 
they  're  all  gone,"  he  said ;  "  I  can't  see 
them." 

Having  recaptured  our  bees,  we  securely 
fastened  the  box  so  that  the  wind  could 
68 


Lester 

not  blow  it  over ;  we  gathered  up  our  pans, 
milk  pails,  and  bells  and  formed  a  homeward 
procession.  Brush  headed  it,  leading  Gray- 
beard,  whose  eyes  were  now  both  closed  and 
bandaged  with  his  white  handkerchief,  and 
in  this  way  we  reached  the  Mission  building. 

The  ladies  and  the  school  girls  were 
waiting  on  the  porch  for  our  return,  and  as 
we  approached  the  gate  a  number  called 
out,  "  How  many  of  you  are  stung  ? " 

"  Two  !  "  cried  the  boys ;  "  teacher  and 
Lester." 

When  we  were  passing  the  girls  on  the 
porch  to  go  to  our  quarters,  pretty  little 
black-eyed  Rosalie,  my  sweetheart,  came  up 
to  me  and  asked,  "  Frank,  was  you  stung  ? " 

"  No ;  but  the  bees  would  n't  go  in  the 
box  for  anybody  but  me,"  I  answered 
proudly. 

"  But  I  wish  you  was  stung  like  Lester," 
she  said;  "his  girl  is  telling  the  rest  of 
them  all  about  it,  and  they  think  he 's  right 
smart  because  he  got  stung." 

Some  of  the  big  girls,  overhearing  this 
confidence,  put  their  aprons  up  to  their  faces 
to  hide  their  laughter.  The  teachers  never 
69 


The  Middle  Five 

knew  that  there  were  lovers  among  the 
pupils  and  that  little  romances  were  going 
on  right  under  their  eyes. 

Gray-beard  could  not  see  us  to  bed  that 
night,  so  the  superintendent  took  his  place. 

"  Good-night,  boys,  keep  quiet  and  go  to 
sleep,"  he  said  as  he  went  downstairs  after 
he  had  heard  us  say  our  prayer. 

"  Warren,  you  Ve  earned  ten  cents  to-day," 
said  Brush ;  "  I  think  Lester  earned  some 
thing  too.  I  don't  know  how  much  it 's 
going  to  be,  but  I  '11  go  and  see  the  superin 
tendent  about  it  to-morrow." 

"  Say,  Brush,  I  think  that  bee  that  stung 
Lester  was  a  drone ;  that 's  why  his  face  is 
all  swelled  up,"  I  said. 

"  Oh  !  go  'long  !  "  he  answered.  "  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  drone  having  a  sting.  They 
have  no  sting,  and  they  can't  sting.  It 's 
only  the  working  bees  that  have  a  sting." 

"  But  those  drones  are  big  fellows,  two 
times  as  big  as  the  working  bees.  The 
superintendent  showed  me  one  when  he  was 
moving  a  swarm  to  a  new  box  in  the  bee 
house." 

"  They  have  n't  any  sting,  though.  There 
70 


Lester 

are  three  kinds  of  bees :  there 's  the  queen, 
then  there 's  the  drone,  and  there 's  the 
working  bees.  When  the  drones  get  too 
many,  and  eat  too  much,  the  working  bees, 
they  get  mad  and  they  sting  them  to  death." 

"I  think  that  work  bee  thought  Lester 
was  drone,"  remarked  Edwin. 

"  Wait  till  I  get  well,"  threatened  Lester ; 
"  I  '11  show  you  drone  ! " 

"What  is  the  queen?"  asked  Warren. 
"  And  what  does  it  do  ? " 

"Why  a  queen  is  a  female  king,"  ex 
plained  Brush,  who  was  authority  on  a  great 
many  things.  "  She  does  n't  do  anything  but 
sit  on  a  big  throne  and  tell  people  what  to 
do.  If  they  don't  mind  her,  she  makes  her 
soldiers  cut  their  heads  off.  It 's  the  same 
with  bees:  they  have  a  queen,  —  I  don't 
think  she  sits  on  a  throne,  but  she  tells  the 
rest  of  the  bees  what  to  do;  and  if  they 
don't  mind  her,  she  gets  up  and  goes ;  then 
all  the  rest  have  to  follow  her,  because  they 
won't  know  what  to  do  unless  she  tells 
them.  That 's  what  that  old  queen  did  to 
day." 

"  Why  don't  the  'Mericans  have  a  king  ?  * 


The  Middle  Five 

asked  Edwin.  "  They  got  a  President,  but 
I  don't  think  he  's  big  like  a  king." 

"  They  had  one,"  said  Brush ;  "  but  they 
didn't  like  him,  because  he  put  a  terrible 
big  tax  on  tea.  The  'Mericans  are  awfully 
fond  of  tea,  and  when  they  saw  they  'd  have 
to  pay  the  trader  and  the  king,  too,  for  their 
tea,  they  got  mad;  and  one  night,  when 
everybody  was  asleep,  they  painted  up  like 
wild  Indians,  and  they  got  into  a  boat  and 
paddled  out  to  the  tea  ship  and  climbed  in. 
They  hollered  and  yelled  like  everything, 
and  scared  everybody ;  then  they  spilted  the 
tea  into  the  ocean." 

"What  did  the  old  king  do?"  asked 
Lester. 

"  Well,  he  was  hopping  mad,  and  he  lifted 
his  great  big  sceptre,  and  he  went  up  to  the 
man  that  brought  the  news,  and  knocked 
him  over.  Then  he  walked  up  and  down 
talking  loud,  and  when  he  got  tired  he  went 
to  his  throne  and  sat  down  hard." 

"What  is  a  sceptre?"  I  asked,  interrupt 
ing  the  story. 

"Why,  it's  something  like  a  war  club; 
when  the  king  tells  people  to  do  things,  he 
72 


Lester 

shakes  it  at  them,  so  they  will  get  scared 
and  mind  what  he  says." 

"  I  would  n't  mind  him,"  said  Warren ; 
"  I  'd  make  a  big  sceptre  for  myself  and 
shake  it  at  him." 

"Well,"  continued  Brush,  "the  old  king 
sat  still  for  a  long  time ;  then  he  said  to  his 
soldiers,  you  go  and  fight  those  'Mericans. 
And  they  did  fight,  and  had  the  Eev'lution. 
That  war  lasted  eight  years,  and  the  king's 
soldiers  got  licked.  Then  the  'Mericans 
made  General  George  Washington  their 
President  because  he  could  n't  tell  a  lie." 

The  next  morning  Brush  went  to  the 
superintendent's  study,  and  soon  came  out 
calling  for  Warren  and  Lester.  Edwin  and 
I  waited  under  the  walnut-tree  in  front  of 
the  school.  When  the  three  came  to  us, 
they  showed  us  a  bright  silver  dime  and  an 
equally  bright  quarter  of  a  dollar.  Accord 
ing  to  our  notions,  Warren  and  his  brother 
were  rich,  the  former  having  earned  the 
reward  offered  for  the  discovery  and  report 
of  the  swarming  of  the  bees,  and  the  latter 
earning  the  quarter  by  climbing  the  tree  on 
which  the  swarm  had  settled. 
73 


The  Middle  Five 

Brush  announced  to  us  that  Lester  and 
Warren  had  been  detailed  to  go  after  the 
mail.  The  post-office  was  in  the  trader's 
store  three  miles  away  from  the  school,  and 
boys  were  always  very  glad  to  be  sent  on 
this  errand. 

In  the  afternoon,  when  school  was  out, 
Brush  went  up  to  the  superintendent's  room, 
to  borrow  the  spy-glass,  while  Edwin  and  I 
went  in  search  of  Lester  and  Warren,  who 
had  slipped  away  from  us.  We  could  not 
find  them,  so  we  returned  to  the  school-room, 
where  we  met  Brush,  and  we  all  went  up  to 
the  belfry. 

The  Indians  were  at  work  in  their  fields, 
and  we  each  took  the  glass  in  turn  to  see  if 
we  could  recognize  our  friends.  Suddenly 
Edwin  said,  "  Something 's  going  to  happen ; 
look  at  those  girls." 

Two  girls  were  going  through  the  yard 
arm  in  arm,  now  and  again  glancing  over 
their  shoulders  toward  the  boys'  play-ground. 
They  reached  the  farthest  corner  of  the  yard, 
then  turned  and  looked  along  the  dividing 
fence.  Two  boys  sauntered  towards  them 
on  the  other  side,  following  a  narrow  path. 
74 


Lester 

"  There 's  Lester  and  Warren,"  said  Brush ; 
"they're  up  to  something,  keep  your  eyes 
upon  them." 

We  did.  The  four  met  at  the  corner,  sat 
down  and  appeared  to  be  talking  to  each 
other.  When  they  had  been  there  for  some 
time,  the  boys  handed  through  the  palings 
to  each  of  the  girls  a  brown  parcel. 

"  I  see  now  why  those  boys  wanted  to  go 
after  the  mail  this  morning,"  said  Brush. 

The  girls  arose  and  walked  toward  the 
house,  opening  their  parcels,  and  we  saw 
through  the  spy-glass  that  they  were  eating 
candy.  The  boys  slowly  returned,  one  fol 
lowing  the  other  along  the  narrow  path. 
Edwin  thrust  his  fingers  into  his  mouth  and 
whistled,  imitating  the  cry  of  the  robin, 
which  was  the  signal  we  five  had  adopted. 
The  boys  stopped  suddenly  as  the  sound 
reached  them,  and  looked  all  around.  See 
ing  no  one,  they  went  on.  Again  Edwin 
whistled ;  then  I  touched  the  bell  very  lightly 
with  the  clapper.  The  boys  looked  up  to 
the  belfry ;  but  we  kept  out  of  sight. 

At  breakfast  the  next  morning  the  two 
girls  appeared  at  the  table  with  their  hair 
75 


The  Middle  Five 

neatly  done  up  in  bright-colored  ribbons. 
Edwin  leaned  over  toward  Lester  and  said 
in  a  whisper,  "  Your  girl's  got  a  right  pretty 
ribbon ! " 

"  Yours  has  n't  got  any  ! "  retorted  Lester. 


76 


Chapter  VII 

The  Splinter,  the  Thorn,  and 
the  Rib 

!  oh !  oh !  Aunt,  that  hurts.  Oh ! " 
"  Keep  still,  now,  keep  still !  You 
have  a  big  stick  in  your  toe,  and  I  must  take 
it  out.  If  you  keep  pulling  like  that,  I 
might  run  the  point  of  this  awl  into  your 
foot." 

I  lay  flat  on  my  back  on  the  ground  with 
my  sore  foot  in  the  lap  of  this  good  woman 
whom  I  called  Aunt,  while  she  probed  the 
wound  to  withdraw  a  splinter.  After  con 
siderable  wincing  on  my  part,  the  cause  of 
my  agony  was  removed  and  held  to  view. 
The  splinter  was  long  and  very  large ;  the 
relief  was  great,  and  already  I  felt  as  though 
I  could  walk  without  limping.  The  kind 
woman  took  from  her  work-bag  a  bit  of 
root,  chewed  it,  and  put  it  on  my  sore  toe ; 
then  she  bandaged  the  foot  with  a  piece  of 
white  cloth  which  also  came  from  the  handy 
bag. 

My  Aunt  laid  the  splinter  on  a  piece  of 
77 


The  Middle  Five 

wood  and  cut  it  into  fine  bits,  just  as  I  had 
seen  men  cut  tobacco  for  smoking.  "  Now," 
said  she,  as  she  scattered  the  bits  in  every 
direction,  "  that  thing  cannot  do  any  more 
harm.  But  what  is  this  ? "  she  asked,  hold 
ing  the  old  bandage  up  between  the  tips  of 
her  thumb  and  index  finger  of  her  right 
hand,  and  in  her  left  the  bit  of  pork  that 
had  been  tied  on  my  toe. 

"  Why,  Aunt,"  I  replied,  "  that  thing  in 
your  right  hand  is  the  old  bandage,  and  that 
in  your  left  is  the  pig-fat  that  was  put  on 
my  toe." 

"  Why  did  they  put  pig-fat  on  your  poor 
sore  toe ;  who  put  it  on  ?  Bah  !  It 's  nasty  ! " 
she  exclaimed,  as  she  threw  it  away  as  far 
as  she  could. 

"  The  white  woman  who  takes  care  of  the 
children  at  the  school  put  it  on  to  draw  the 
splinter  out." 

"  To  draw  the  splinter  out ! "  she  repeated 
in  a  tone  of  contempt.  Then  she  tossed  up 
her  fine  head,  gave  shouts  of  laughter,  and 
said  between  the  paroxysms  ;  "  Oh !  this  is 
funny !  This  is  funny !  Your  White-chests 
might  as  well  hitch  a  bit  of  pig-fat  to  their 
78 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

wagon  and  expect  it  to  draw  a  load  up  the 
hill !  And  how  long  has  this  pig-fat  been 
tied  on  your  foot  ?  " 

"  About  four  days." 

"Without  bathing  the  foot  and  renewing 
the  bandages  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  If  this  white  woman  takes  as  much  care 
of  the  other  children  as  she  has  of  you,  — 
I'm  sorry  for  them.  No  children  of  mine 
should  be  placed  under  her  care,  —  if  I  had 
any." 

My  Aunt  gathered  her  awl,  knife,  and 
other  little  things  into  her  work-bag ;  I 
looked  all  about  to  see  if  any  boys  were 
watching,  then  I  put  my  arms  around  her 
dear  neck  and  kissed  her. 

"Are  you  going  to  see  my  mother  to 
day?"  When  she  answered  yes,  I  said, 
"  Tell  her  to  come  and  see  me,  —  very  soon." 

"  I  will ;  but  don't  keep  her  running  over 
here  all  the  time,"  and  she  started  to  go. 
She  had  not  gone  very  far  when  she  turned 
and  shouted  to  me,  "Wash  your  foot 
to-morrow  morning  and  turn  the  bandage 
over.  You  will  be  well  in  a  day  or  two." 
79 


The  Middle  Five 

A  boy  passing  by  cried  out,  "  Bell  has 
rung  ! "  and  I  limped  into  the  school-room 
to  attend  the  afternoon  session. 

When  school  was  out,  Lester  suggested 
that  we  go  on  the  hill  to  sit  and  talk. 
Turning  to  me,  he  asked  if  I  could  walk  as 
far  as  that ;  I  assured  him  that  I  could,  so  I 
hobbled  along  with  the  boys  up  the  hill. 
We  found  a  beautiful  grassy  spot,  and  three 
of  us  —  Lester,  Warren,  and  I — lay  down 
and  looked  up  into  the  deep  blue  sky.  Brush 
sat  near  by,  carving  a  horse's  head  out  of  a 
piece  of  oak.  Clouds  lazily  floated  far 
above. 

"Say,  Lester,"  I  called,  "you  take  that 
one  that  looks  like  a  buffalo ;  Warren,  you 
take  that  one  that  is  shaped  like  a  bear ;  and 
I  will  take  this  one  that 's  like  a  man  smok 
ing  a  pipe.  Now,  let 's  rub  them  out ! " 

So,  fixing  our  eyes  upon  the  clouds,  we 
began  rubbing  the  palms  of  our  hands 
together. 

"  Mine  is  getting  smaller,  right  away, 
now  ! "  cried  Warren. 

"  Mine  too  ! "  echoed  Lester. 

Brush  gave  us  a  look  of  disgust,  and 
80 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

said, "  Boys,  I  think  you  are  the  biggest  fools 
I  ever  saw,  —  rubbing  out  clouds,  the  idea  ! " 

But  we  rubbed  away,  and  paid  no  atten 
tion  to  the  contemptuous  glances  our  friend 
gave  us.  My  hands  began  to  come  down 
lower  and  lower ;  and  then  I  felt  myself  ris 
ing  from  the  ground,  higher  and  higher  I 
went,  just  like  a  big  bird,  and  suddenly 
landed  on  a  heavy  black  cloud.  I  looked 
down;  there  were  the  boys  still  rubbing 
away,  and  Brush  still  carving.  I  could  see 
the  winding  river  far  below  and  the  birds 
flitting  about.  I  wondered  what  it  all 
meant.  I  felt  the  cloud  moving  away  with 
me ;  the  boys  were  growing  smaller  and 
smaller,  and  I  noticed  that  I  was  passing 
over  the  Indian  village.  Where  is  the  cloud 
going  with  me,  and  will  it  ever  stop  ?  I 
heard  a  sound  that  seemed  familiar  to  me, 
—  is  it  a  bell  ?  Could  there  be  bells  in  the 
cloud  ?  I  asked  myself. 

"  Wake  up,  you  fools !  Supper-bell  has 
rung !  Kubbing  out  clouds,  were  you  ! "  said 
Brush,  in  derisive  tones. 

Warren  sat   up,   blinking   his   eyes,  and 
asked,  "  Where  are  we  ? " 
6  81 


The  Middle  Five 

That  night,  when  the  boys  had  settled 
down  in  their  beds  and  Gray -beard  had  gone 
downstairs,  Edwin  asked,  "  Boys,  where  Ve 
you  been  this  afternoon?  You  came  to 
supper  late;  Gray -beard  looked  hard  at 
you." 

"We've  been  up  the  hill,"  I  answered; 
"  I  told  the  boys  to  hurry  along  and  leave 
me ;  but  they  would  n't." 

"  Who  was  that  Indian  woman  talking  to 
you  before  dinner-time  ? " 

"That  was  my  aunt;  she  saw  me  when 
she  was  going  by,  and  she  made  me  sit  down 
and  she  looked  at  my  foot.  She  took  a  great 
big  splinter  out  of  my  toe.  My  !  it  hurt." 

"You're  going  to  get  well  now.  Why 
did  n't  you  put  that  splinter  in  some  buffalo 
hair,  then  't  would  Ve  turned  into  a  baby." 

"Nonsense!"  said  Brush,  "who  ever 
heard  of  such  a  thing." 

"There's  a  story  like  that,"  replied 
Edwin. 

"  Tell  that  story  !  tell  that  story  ! "  cried 
the  boys  in  chorus. 

"  But  you  don't  listen ;  you  go  to  sleep,  or 
you  ask  fool  questions  and  stop  me." 
82 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

"  We  won't  stop  you ;  we  're  going  to  lie 
awake." 

"  All  right.  I  '11  tell  you  that  story.  Say 
'  ong  ! '  pretty  soon,  then  1 11  know  you  're 
awake." 

We  all  snuggled  down,  then  in  chorus 
cried,  "  Ong  ! "  and  Edwin  began : 

"  'Way  long  time  ago,  four  brothers  lived 
on  earth.  Good  hunters,  they  shoot  straight, 
kill  deer,  buffalo,  elk,  and  all  kinds  of 
animals.  They  got  plenty  of  meat  and 
skins.  One  night,  the  youngest  man  came 
home  very  lame ;  his  foot  was  all  swelled  up ; 
he  had  to  use  his  bow  for  a  cane,  and  he 
was  groaning,  groaning  all  the  time.  He  lay 
down  and  was  real  sick,  one,  two,  three  days. 
The  other  men,  they  went  hunting.  When 
they  were  gone,  the  youngest  man  got  up, 
took  his  knife,  cut  open  his  toe,  and  took  out 
a  big  thorn,  a  great  big  —  " 

Whack !  whack !  whack !  Quick  as  a 
flash  the  boys  put  their  feet  against  the 
foot-board  and  pulled  the  bedclothes  taut  so 
that  the  rest  of  the  blows  fell  harmless  upon 
us.  We  had  been  surprised  by  Gray-beard. 
Edwin,  in  his  earnestness,  and  in  his  belief 

83 


The  Middle  Five 

that  a  foreign  language  can  be  better  under 
stood  when  spoken  loudly,  had  been  shout 
ing  his  story  in  a  voice  that  reached 
Gray-beard  and  woke  him  up.  After  warn 
ing  us  against  loud  talking,  the  old  man 
went  downstairs  as  stealthily  as  he  had 
come. 

"Well,  boys,"  said  Brush,  "that  came 
like  a  cyclone,  did  n't  it  ?  " 

We  all  agreed  that  it  did. 

"Frank,  did  he  hurt  your  foot?"  asked 
Warren. 

"No,  the  boys  kept  the  quilt  up,  so  he 
couldn't  hit  me." 

"  What  did  I  say  last  ? "  asked  Edwin. 

"You  said,"  I  reminded  him,  "that  he 
cut  open  his  toe  and  took  out  a  big 
thorn." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  continued ;  "  he  took  out  a 
big  thorn,  a  great  big  thorn.  He  wanted  to 
show  it  to  his  brothers,  so  he  pulled  out 
some  buffalo  hair  from  his  robe  and  put  the 
thorn  inside  and  laid  it  away,  way  back  in 
the  middle  of  the  tent.  Then  he  went  after 
some  water  to  wash  his  foot.  When  he  was 
coming  back,  he  heard  something  crying  like 
84 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

everything;  not  like  raccoon,  not  like  any 
kind  of  bird  or  animal,  something  different. 
He  stood  still  and  listened ;  it  sounded  like 
coming  from  inside  the  tent!  So  he  went 
slow,  easy,  and  looked  in  the  tent ;  there  was 
something  moving  and  crying  loud.  Then  the 
young  man  went  inside  the  tent,  and  he  saw 
a  baby,  a  little  girl  baby,  and  no  thorn.  He 
knew  that  thorn  had  turned  into  a  girl  baby, 
crying  like  everything.  The  young  man 
was  very  glad;  he  danced  on  his  one  well 
foot;  he  took  up  the  girl  baby  in  his  big 
arms  and  moved  like  a  tree  when  the  wind 
blows,  and  he  sang  soft,  and  the  girl  baby 
shut  her  eyes  and  went  to  sleep,  e-a-s-y,  — 
just  like  you!" 

"  No !  We  ain't  asleep.  Go  on." 
"  Well,  those  big  brothers  came  home,  and 
they  were  all  very  glad.  They  took  the  girl 
baby  all  round.  Then  the  oldest  brother,  he 
said,  '  She  is  going  to  be  our  sister.  I  wish 
she  would  grow  right  up  and  run  round  the 
tent/  Then  he  lifted  her  four  times,  and 
the  girl  baby  grew  quick,  and  ran  round  the 
tent,  talking.  Then  another  brother,  he  said, 
'I  wish  my  sister  would  grow  up  and  get 

8s 


The  Middle  Five 

big  enough  to  go  after  water.'  Then  he 
lifted  the  little  girl  four  times,  and  she  got 
big  enough  to  go  after  water.  Then  the 
next  one,  he  said,  '  I  wish  my  sister  would 
grow  big  enough  to  make  moccasins  and 
cook  and  make  lots  of  things/  Then  he 
lifted  her  four  times,  and  the  girl  grew  right 
up  and  knew  how  to  make  lots  of  things. 
Then  the  youngest  man,  he  said,  '  I  wish 
my  sister  grown  up  woman  now.'  Then  he 
lifted  her  four  times,  and  she  was  a  big 
woman  right  away.  So  in  one  night  that 
thorn  girl  baby  grew  up,  and  she  was  the 
first  woman." 

"  Why  ! "  said  Brush,  "  that 's  just  like  the 
Bible  story  of  Adam  and  Eve.  You  re 
member  it  says,  that  Adam  was  the  first 
man  God  made,  and  He  put  him  in  a  big 
garden  full  of  flowers  and  trees.  He  told 
him  he  could  eat  everything  there  except 
the  berries  of  only  one  tree,  and  He  showed 
him  that  tree.  God  made  Adam  go  to  sleep, 
and  then  He  cut  open  his  side  and  took  out 
one  rib,  and  out  of  that  bone  He  made  a 
woman,  and  He  named  her  Eve." 

"  Did  He  whittle  that  rib  bone  just  like 
86 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

you  whittle  a  piece  of  wood  and  make  men, 
and  horses,  and  dogs,  and  other  things?" 
asked  Lester. 

"Yes,  I  think  He  did.  Then  in  that 
garden  there  were  elephants,  and  lions,  and 
tigers,  and  camels,  and  lots  of  other  animals  ; 
but  they  didn't  eat  each  other  up.  God 
gave  Adam  the  camels  to  ride,  so  he  would  n't 
get  tired.  Camels  ride  easy,  easier  than  a 
horse.  You  know  a  horse  goes  trot !  trot ! 
trot !  and  makes  your  stomach  ache ;  but  a 
camel  goes  just  as  e-a-s-y,  like  rocking,  like 
that  boat,  you  know,  when  we  went  on  the 
river  and  the  wind  blew,  and  the  boat  went 
up  and  down.  Why,  you  know,  the  differ 
ence  is  just  like  this  :  you  ride  in  a  big  wagon 
and  it  shakes  you  like  everything ;  you  ride 
in  the  superintendent's  carriage,  and  it  rides 
just  as  easy  as  anything." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  "  broke  in  Warren. 
"  You  never  rode  a  camel,  and  you  never 
rode  in  the  superintendent's  carriage." 

"Yes,  I  have  too.     I  've  ridden  in  the  su 
perintendent's  carriage  that  time  I  went  to 
interpret  for  him  down  to  the  big  village. 
I  rode  with  him  in  his  carriage." 
87 


The  Middle  Five 

"You  boys  said  you  wouldn't  stop  my 
story,"  protested  Edwin,  yawning. 

"  Say,  Brush,"  I  asked,  "  when  that  bone 
was  whittled,  and  it  became  Eve,  what  did 
she  do  ? " 

"  Well,  one  morning  she  went  down  to 
the  creek  to  swim,  and,  just  as  she  was 
going  to  step  into  the  water  by  a  big  willow- 
tree,  she  saw  a  snake  in  the  tree  with  a 
man's  head  on,  and  the  snake  — " 

"  It  was  n't  a  snake,"  interrupted  Warren ; 
"  it  was  the  serpent,  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  said  so." 

"  Well,  it 's  the  same  thing,  —  the  snake 
and  the  serpent  is  the  same  thing." 

"No,  they're  not.  The  serpent  is  the 
kind  that 's  poisonous,  like  the  rattle-snake ; 
and  the  snake  is  like  those  that  don't 
poison,  like  the  garter-snake  and  the  bull- 
snake.  " 

"  Brush,  go  on  with  your  story,"  I  broke 
in  impatiently.  "  Don't  mind  Warren ;  he 
does  n't  know  anything  !  " 

"  No,  he  does  n't.  Well,  the  serpent  was 
Satan,  and  Sa  —  " 

"  How  can  Satan  be  a  serpent  and  a 
88 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

snake  ? "  asked  Lester.  "  First  you  said  it 
was  a  snake ;  then  you  said  it  was  a  serpent ; 
now  you  say  it  was  Satan  ! " 

"  You  boys  are  bothering  my  story  all  the 
time.  I  'm  going  to  stop." 

"  Go  on.  Brush,"  I  urged ;  "  don't  mind 
those  boys ;  what  do  they  know  ?  They  're 
all  way  back  in  the  Second  Eeader,  and  you 
are  in  the  Fifth,  and  I  am  in  the  Third." 

"  All  right,  I  '11  go  on  ;  I  don't  care  what 
they  say.  Well,  the  Devil  spoke  to  Eve 
and  said  —  " 

"Your  snake  has  turned  into  a  Devil 
now,"  sneered  Edwin.  "Boys,  why  don't 
you  let  me  go  on  with  my  story;  Brush 
does  n't  know  how  to  tell  a  story." 

"Yes,  I  do  too.  Boys,  you  don't  know 
anything;  you  don't  know  that  the  Devil 
and  Satan  and  the  serpent  and  the  snake 
are  the  same  thing ;  they  're  all  the  same. 
If  you  would  listen  when  the  teacher  talks 
to  you  in  the  school-room,  and  when  the 
minister  speaks  to  us  in  the  chapel,  you 
would  learn  something.  All  you  got  to  do 
is  to  listen,  but  you  don't.  When  you  are 
forced  to  sit  still,  you  go  to  sleep ;  and  when 


The  Middle  Five 

you  are  awake  you  tickle  those  that  are 
asleep  with  straws,  or  stick  pins  in  them. 
How  are  you  going  to  learn  anything  when 
you  do  like  that  ?  You  must  listen  ;  that 's 
what  I  'm  doing.  I  want  to  know  all  about 
these  things  so  I  can  be  a  preacher  when 
I  get  big.  I  'm  going  to  wear  a  long  black 
coat,  and  a  vest  that  buttons  up  to  the 
throat,  and  I  'm  going  to  wear  a  white  col 
lar,  and  a  pair  of  boots  that  squeaks  and 
reaches  to  my  knees,  and  —  " 

"  Edwin,  go  on  with  your  story,  I  want 
to  hear  that,"  called  Warren. 

"  He 's  asleep,"  said  I. 

"  Only  last  Sunday,"  resumed  Brush,  "  the 
minister  told  us  that  the  Devil  went  about 
like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may 
de  —  de  —  What 's  the  rest  of  that  word, 
Frank?" 

"  Your." 

"Yes,  Vour,  devour.  The  Devil  went 
about  like  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he 
may  devour." 

"  Bully  for  you,  Brush !  "   exclaimed  Les 
ter.     "  That 's  good ;  you  did  n't  cough  big 
though,  like  the  preacher  does." 
90 


Splinter,  Thorn,  and  Rib 

"  Don't  make  fun  of  the  old  man,  boys, 
he  is  here  to  help  us ;  he  wants  to  do  us 
good." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Warren  ;  "  I  guess  he 
wanted  to  do  you  good  last  week,  when  he 
switched  your  back  for  you  !  " 

"  I  think  I  deserved  it." 

"  No,  you  did  n't.  You  did  n't  do  anything ; 
you  only  threw  Phil  Sheridan  down  and 
made  his  nose  bleed." 

"  I  should  n't  have  done  it.  I  saw  a  good 
chance  and  I  did  it,  and  the  old  man  was 
looking  at  me.  Now,  boys,  what  did  the 
preacher  mean  when  he  said  the  Devil  went 
around  like  a  roaring  lion  ? " 

"I  s'pose,"  said  Edwin,  "he  means  the 
Devil  is  like  some  of  our  big  medicine  men 
who  can  turn  themselves  into  deer  and  elk, 
and  any  kind  of  animal,  and  the  Devil  can 
change  himself  into  a  hungry,  howling  lion 
and  —  " 

"  And  into  a  Satan,"  suggested  Lester. 

"  And  into  a  serpent,"  added  Warren. 

"  Into  a  snake,"  I  chimed  in. 

"  And  put  a  man's  head  on  ! "  ejaculated 
Edwin. 


The  Middle  Five 

"  And  talk  to  women  when  they  go  swim 
ming  !  "  said  Lester,  with  a  laugh. 

"  There  's  no  use  talking  to  you  boys.  I  'ni 
going  to  sleep,"  and  Brush  turned  over. 

One  by  one,  sleep  overcame  these  boys. 
Brush  made  a  peculiar  noise  as  he  breathed, 
and  Lester  puffed  away  like  a  steamboat. 

A  whippoorwill  sang  in  one  of  the  cotton- 
wood-trees  near  the  corner  of  the  house. 
Fainter  and  fainter  grew  the  sound,  and  so 
the  day  passed  into  yesterday,  and  the 
morrow  began  to  dawn. 


92 


Chapter  VIII 
Fraudulent    Holidays 


"/T^HIKD  Keader,"  called  Gray-beard, 
and  some  ten  or  twelve  boys  and 
girls  marched  to  the  place  of  recitation,  and 
put  their  toes  on  a  straight  crack  in  the- 
floor.  The  reading  lesson  was  some  verses 
on  "  Summer,"  prettily  illustrated  with  a  pic 
ture  of  a  boy  and  a  dog,  the  lad  racing  over 
a  meadow,  and  the  dog  frisking  at  his  side. 

"  Now,  Kobert,  begin  !  "  said  Gray  -beard 
to  little  Bob,  who  in  some  unaccountable 
way  had  reached  the  head  of  the  class. 

The  boy  put  his  index  finger  on  the  first 
word,  and  slid  it  along  as  he  read,  in  a  low, 
sing-song  tone,  "  Come,  come,  come,  the 
Summer  now  is  here." 

"  Eead  that  over  again,"  said  Gray-beard. 
"  Eead  it  loud,  as  though  you  were  out  of 
doors  at  play." 

Bob  read  again,  but  in  the  same  manner, 
and  had  hardly  gone  through  half  the  line 
when  the  sharp  crack  of  Gray-beard's  ruler 
on  the  desk  made  us  all  jump. 
93 


The  Middle  Five 

"  That 's  not  the  way  to  read  it !  "  he  ex 
claimed  with  some  impatience ;  and  he  re 
peated  the  lines  to  show  how  they  should  be 
given.  "  Now,  begin  again." 

Bob  began,  but  in  the  same  lifeless  tone, 
never  taking  his  finger  from  the  words. 

"  Next ! "  interrupted  Gray-beard.  "  The 
same  verse ;  read  as  though  you  were  wide 
awake  and  calling  to  your  playmates,  not  as 
if  you  were  going  to  sleep." 

The  boy  addressed  straightened  himself 
up  and  shouted  out : 

u  Come,  come,  come,  the  Summer  now  is 
here ! "  going  through  the  verse  without  a 
break,  then  he  glanced  proudly  toward  the 
girls,  only  to  see  them  giggling  behind  their 
books. 

"  Silence  !  "  cried  Gray-beard,  striking  his 
desk.  "  That  was  well  done  ! " 

The  door  slowly  opened,  and  the  farmer 
entered,  hat  in  hand,  and  addressed  Gray- 
beard,  "I  want  to  transfer  a  sow  with  a 
litter  of  pigs  from  one  pen  to  another,  and 
I  Ve  come  to  ask  if  you  could  let  me  have 
the  help  of  some  of  the  boys  ? " 

When  permission  had  been  granted,  a 
94 


Fraudulent  Holidays 

number  of  willing  hands  went  up,  and  as 
many  faces  turned  with  eager  expectancy  to 
the  farmer,  who  looked  around,  and  then 
said,  "Brush,  Frank,  Lester,  and  Warren 
will  do." 

We  followed  the  farmer  to  the  pen,  and 
at  once  jumped  in,  each  one  seizing  a  little 
pig ;  but,  before  we  could  turn,  the  sow  made 
such  an  onslaught  upon  us  that  we  dropped 
the  pigs  and  scrambled  over  the  fence ;  but 
Lester,  who  was  last,  left  a  piece  of  his 
trousers  in  the  jaws  of  the  angry  beast. 
After  this  exciting  experience,  at  which  the 
farmer  could  hardly  stop  laughing,  we  held 
a  consultation  with  him,  and  agreed  upon  a 
plan  which  we  immediately  proceeded  to 
carry  out. 

We  threatened  the  sow  with  our  hats  ;  she 
retreated  into  a  corner  with  her  young ;  then 
Brush  slyly  went  up,  and,  reaching  his  hand 
through  the  fence,  caught  one  of  the  little 
pigs  by  the  legs  and  held  it  fast ;  it  squealed 
lustily,  and  the  infuriated  mother  made 
savage  attacks  upon  the  fence.  Then  Lester, 
Warren,  the  farmer,  and  T  sprang  into  the 
pen,  caught  the  frightened  little  pigs,  and 
95 


The  Middle  Five 

ran  with  them  to  the  new  pen.  Brush  re 
leased  his  prisoner,  and  the  cry  of  the  trans 
ported  little  ones  brought  the  mother  to  the 
pen,  where  she  was  secured. 

While  the  farmer  was  fastening  the  gate, 
we  boys  walked  around  the  hog-yard ;  War 
ren,  who  was  ahead,  discovered  a  weak  place 
in  the  fence,  and  beckoned  excitedly  for  us 
to  hasten. 

There  were  times  when  the  pupils  became 
very  tired  of  their  books,  and  longed  to  take 
a  run  over  the  prairies  or  through  the  woods. 
When  this  longing  came  upon  them,  they 
sought  for  ways  and  means  by  which  to 
have  the  school  closed,  and  secure  a  holiday. 
I  remember  once,  it  was  in  the  fall,  the 
members  of  the  Big  Seven  loosened  the 
joints  of  the  long  stove-pipe  during  recess. 
When  school  opened  in  the  afternoon,  and 
their  class  was  called,  they  marched  to  the 
place  of  recitation,  keeping  step  and  jarring 
the  room  so  that  the  sections  of  the  pipe  fell 
rattling  to  the  floor,  filling  the  room  with 
smoke,  and  covering  floor  and  desks  with 
soot.  As  it  would  take  some  time  for  the 
pipe  to  cool  and  be  put  up  again,  and  the 
96 


Fraudulent  Holidays 

room  cleaned,  the  school  was  dismissed, 
giving  us  a  half  holiday. 

Now,  in  the  weakness  of  the  hog  fence, 
there  was  a  chance  for  an  afternoon  out  of 
school,  and  Warren  saw  it.  He  told  us  his 
plan,  and  the  rest  of  us  fell  in  with  the 
scheme.  After  dinner  we  took  some  corn 
and  scattered  it  outside  of  the  fence  at  the 
weak  place;  then  we  went  to  the  school 
room,  where  Gray-beard,  when  he  came  to 
ring  the  bell  to  summon  the  scholars,  found 
us  hard  at  work  on  our  arithmetic  lessons. 

The  geography  class  was  up,  and  Brush 
was  describing  the  rivers  of  South  America, 
when  the  door  was  thrown  open  by  the 
superintendent,  who  exclaimed,  "  Hurry, 
boys !  The  pigs  are  out  and  going  to  the 
Indians'  cornfield ! " 

We  did  not  wait  to  be  ordered  a  second 
time ;  but,  snatching  our  hats  from  the  pegs 
in  the  hall,  we  ran  down  the  hill  with  wild 
shouts  and  cries.  All  the  afternoon  we 
chased  pigs,  and  had  a  glorious  time,  while 
the  girls  had  to  stay  in  school  and  be 
banged  at  by  Gray-beard. 

It  was  almost  supper-time  when  we  finally 
7  97 


The  Middle  Five 

drove  the  pigs  into  the  yard  and  repaired 
the  weak  places  in  the  fence.  Flushed  with 
our  exciting  chase  we  entered  the  dining- 
room  when  the  bell  rang,  and  took  our 
places  at  the  table  for  the  evening  meal ; 
then  the  superintendent,  looking  at  us  with 
a  kindly  smile,  thanked  us  for  the  good  ser 
vice  we  had  rendered  that  afternoon  ! 

The  few  hours'  release  from  the  tasks  of 
the  school-room  had  brought  about  a  general 
good  feeling  among  the  boys ;  so,  when  we 
had  partaken  of  the  simple  fare,  we  gathered 
on  our  play-ground  and  joined  in  a  number 
of  lively  games  in  the  long  twilight.  So 
interested  and  excited  had  we  become  in 
our  play  that  we  took  no  notice  of  the 
fading  light  and  the  lateness  of  the  hour 
until  the  first  bell  for  bed  sounded. 

Our  school  was  an  industrial  one,  and  in 
the  assignment  to  the  larger  boys  and  girls 
of  various  duties  in  and  about  the  building, 
I  was  given  the  care  of  the  hydraulic  ram 
that  pumped  the  water  from  the  spring  to  the 
house.  In  the  morning  I  started  it,  and 
in  the  evening  shut  it  off.  The  rarn  was 
located  in  a  wooded  ravine  a  quarter  of  a 
98 


Fraudulent  Holidays 

mile  from  the  school,  and  I  usually  stopped 
it  while  it  was  yet  light,  for,  like  many  a 
foolish  boy,  I  was  afraid  to  go  away  from 
the  house  alone  in  the  dark.  Now  in  the 
excitement  of  play  I  had  forgotten  all  about 
the  ram  until  I  heard  the  bell  calling  us  to 
prepare  for  bed,  nor  had  I  realized  till  then 
that  it  was  dark,  and  that  the  sky  in  the 
west  was  black  with  storm  clouds  through 
which  the  lightning  zigzagged,  and  that  there 
was  an  incessant  rumble  of  thunder.  The 
myriad  of  fireflies  that  filled  the  air  with 
flashes  of  red  light  only  made  the  darkness 
seem  yet  darker. 

Stricken  all  at  once  with  fear,  I  called 
loudly  for  Brush  and  the  rest  of  the  boys, 
but  none  of  them  responded.  I  was  afraid 
to  go  to  the  ram  alone  in  the  dark,  but  if  I 
should  let  it  pump  all  night  the  water  would 
overflow  the  kitchen,  and  that  would  mean 
a  disgraceful  punishment  for  me.  I  went 
from  boy  to  boy,  trying  to  secure  a  com 
panion  ;  but  not  one  of  them  dared  to  go 
with  me,  they  were  all  afraid  of  ghosts. 
Marbles  could  not  tempt  them,  nor  could 
a  much  coveted  gun-lock,  which  for  the  first 
99 


The  Middle  Five 

time  I  was  willing  to  part  with,  induce  any 
boy  to  go.  The  time  for  the  last  call  for 
bed  was  fast  approaching,  and  I  dared  not 
wait  longer  trying  to  secure  an  escort,  so  I 
started  on  a  run,  frightened  nearly  out  of 
my  wits  at  everything  I  saw,  but  on  I  went 
as  if  racing  for  life. 

I  reached  the  place  and  stood  over  the 
square  pit  in  which  the  ram  was  placed,  and 
was  about  to  go  down  the  ladder  into  it, 
when  I  saw  something  move  rapidly  at  the 
bottom.  I  nearly  fell  over  backwards  as  I 
jumped  away.  I  ran  toward  the  house,  but 
the  thought  of  the  overflow  in  the  kitchen, 
and  the  punishment  that  was  sure  to  follow, 
came  back  to  my  mind.  For  a  moment  I 
struggled  between  a  known  and  an  unknown 
fate,  and  decided  to  meet  the  latter.  With 
set  teeth  and  clenched  fists  I  jumped  into 
the  pit,  backed  into  the  nearest  corner,  yelled 
at  the  top  of  my  voice,  while  I  struck  right 
and  left  with  my  fists  and  kicked  out  with 
my  feet.  Let  it  be  ghost  or  beast,  I  was 
determined  to  fight  it  and  die  game.  I  kept 
on  striking,  kicking,  and  yelling,  but  nothing 
put  itself  in  my  way.  I  dropped  to  the 
100 


Fraudulent  Holidays 

ground,  panting,  but  kept  an  eye  on  the 
white  thing  which  had  also  moved  into  a 
corner.  I  made  a  feint  at  charging  upon  it 
and  it  fled  to  another  corner ;  then  I  put  my 
head  close  to  the  ground  to  discover  the 
shape  of  my  enemy,  when,  to  my  joy,  I  dis 
cerned  the  outline  of  a  rabbit.  With  a  long- 
drawn  breath  of  relief  I  stood  upright,  turned 
off  the  ram,  made  a  rush  upon  the  rabbit 
and  caught  it.  Hastily  rolling  it  up  in  my 
jacket,  I  climbed  the  ladder,  ran  up  the  hill 
as  though  a  dozen  ghosts  were  after  me,  and 
reached  my  bed  just  in  time  to  say  "  Amen  " 
to  the  evening  prayer. 

When  Gray-beard  had  gone  down,  I 
whispered  to  Lester  and  Edwin,  "I've 
caught  a  white  rabbit  ! " 

"  Let 's  scare  the  boys,"  said  Lester. 

So  we  dropped  the  little  creature  on  the 
floor,  and  it  ran  around  the  room  as  hard  as 
it  could  go,  while  one  of  us  cried  out  in  a 
loud  whisper  "  Ghost !  "  Then  every  boy  in 
the  room  pulled  the  bedclothes  over  his 
head,  and  did  not  dare  to  uncover  again. 

We  kept  the  rabbit  for  a  pet,  and  made  a 
box  for  it.  We  liked  to  watch  it  eat,  and  it 
101 


The  Middle  Five 

did  not  suffer  for  want  of  food  so  long  as 
we  had  it.  One  of  the  "  gangs "  among 
the  small  boys  came  to  us  one  day  while 
we  were  feeding  our  pet,  and  offered  us 
some  clay  marbles  for  it.  We  looked  upon 
their  offer  with  contempt,  for  we  all  knew 
how  to  make  clay  marbles  ourselves,  and 
had  all  we  wanted. 

"I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do  though," 
said  Brush  to  the  would-be  purchasers.  "  If 
you  will  give  each  one  of  us  seventeen  cakes, 
you  can  take  the  rabbit." 

The  boys  retired  and  held  a  private  con 
sultation,  then  came  back,  and  the  leader 
said,  "Well  take  the  rabbit," 

These  boys  must  have  coveted  the  rabbit 
very  much,  for  there  was  not  a  boy  in  the 
school  who  did  not  love  cake,  and  the  one 
slice  of  brown  ginger-cake  we  were  each 
given  for  Sunday  noon  lunch  was  the  only 
delicacy  we  tasted.  This  cake  became  a 
currency  among  the  boys,  and  all  contracts 
for  cakes  were  faithfully  kept.  I  know 
of  only  one  instance  where  a  boy  failed 
to  keep  his  bargain,  and  he  was  so  perse 
cuted  by  the  other  scholars  that  he  was 
102 


Fraudulent  Holidays 

obliged  to  pay  his  debt  in  order  to  live 
in  peace. 

Brush  thought  he  had  put  the  price  of 
the  rabbit  so  high  that  it  would  not  be  ac 
cepted  ;  but  as  we  could  not  back  out  of  our 
agreement,  we  were  obliged  to  part  with  our 
ghost  rabbit  for  eighty-five  cakes. 

As  the  number  of  the  "  gang  "  purchasing 
the  rabbit  was  the  same  as  ours,  for  seven 
teen  Sundays  these  five  boys  went  without 
their  cakes,  while  each  one  of  us  enjoyed  a 
double  share. 


103 


Chapter  IX 
William  T.  Sherman 

HE  stood  on  the  third  board  of  the  fence 
from  the  ground,  and  leaned  with 
his  elbows  on  the  top  one,  now  and  again 
kicking  with  his  moccasined  foot  a  loose 
panel.  How  long  he  had  been  standing 
there  rattling  that  loose  board  no  one  knew, 
but  in  time  one  of  the  boys  noticed  him,  and 
suddenly  he  became  an  object  of  the  great 
est  interest  among  the  boys  of  all  sizes  at 
the  school.  Boys  who  were  playing  down 
by  the  river,  up  by  the  spring,  and  over 
by  the  saw  mill  came  running  to  see  the 
stranger ;  and  how  the  word  reached  them 
was  as  much  of  a  mystery  as  the  appearance 
of  the  little  figure  on  the  fence. 

Every  one  was  eager  to  pelt  him  with  a 
question,  and  get  as  close  to  him  as  possible. 
He  answered  the  questions  in  monosyllables ; 
but  he  showed  objection  to  any  near  ap 
proach,  by  freeing  his  bare  arms  from  his 
little  buffalo  robe  and  pointing  a  wooden 
pop-gun  at  the  eye  of  the  boy  who  was  in- 
104 


William  T.  Sherman 

clined  to  be  too  familiar.  We  kept  at  him 
until  we  found  out  that  his  name  was  Thin'- 
je-zhin-ga,  which,  translated  into  the  lan 
guage  of  the  Missionaries,  signified  Little 
Tail.1 

He  had  come  over  from  the  village  to  see 
the  school,  and  was  as  much  interested  in 
us  as  we  were  in  him.  All  at  once  some 
thing  attracted  his  attention ;  his  black  eyes 
sparkled,  out  came  one  arm  from  under  his 
robe,  and  he  pointed  with  a  very  dirty  little 
finger  and  said,  "  Give  me  one  of  those  ! " 

The  coveted  object  was  a  brass  button  on 
the  jacket  of  one  of  the  small  students. 
When  Little  Tail  was  asked  what  he  wanted 
to  do  with  it,  he  said,  "  Tie  it  to  my  scalp- 
lock/'  This  sounded  very  funny  to  us,  and 
we  all  laughed.  The  little  chap  retreated 
into  his  robe,  covered  his  head,  and  looked 
out  at  us  with  one  eye. 

The  bell  rang  for  dinner;  and  there  fol- 

1  He  belonged  to  a  band  in  the  Omaha  tribe  known 
as  Mon'-thin-ka-ga-hae,  people  of  the  underground  world; 
in  other  words,  animals  that  burrowed  and  lived  in  the 
earth ;  such  had  small  tails,  and  the  name  Little  Tail 
referred  to  this  peculiarity. 

105 


The  Middle  Five 

lowed  a  general  scramble  to  appear  promptly 
at  the  table,  and  no  thought  was  given  to 
the  queer  little  visitor.  Being  the  last  boy 
to  enter  the  house,  I  turned  to  look  back  at 
him,  and  there  he  stood  perched  upon  the 
fence,  staring  after  us  as  though  he  wondered 
why  he  was  so  suddenly  deserted. 

When  we  came  out  from  dinner,  he  was 
still  on  the  fence,  but  he  was  busy.  He  had 
an  ear  of  roasted  corn  and  was  shelling  the 
kernels ;  when  he  had  nearly  a  handful  he 
tipped  his  head  back,  poured  the  grains  into 
his  mouth,  and  ate  them  with  relish.  After 
he  had  stripped  half  of  the  cob,  he  seemed 
to  be  satisfied,  and  the  remainder  disappeared 
in  the  recesses  of  his  robe.  As  he  finished 
his  corn  dinner,  one  of  the  school-boys  said 
to  him,  "  Little  Tail,  how  would  you  like  to 
stay  and  live  with  us  here  ? " 

"  I  would  like  it,"  he  promptly  replied. 

"  Will  you  stay  ? " 

"Yes." 

It  was  soon  reported  to  the  superintendent 

that   a  new  pupil   had   come.     When   the 

afternoon   session   opened   and    the    pupils 

were  seated,  Little  Tail  was  given  a  seat  at 

106 


William  T.  Sherman 

one  of  the  desks,  but  to  our  delight  he  slid 
down  and  sat  on  the  floor.  The  teacher 
rapped  the  top  of  his  desk  with  a  ruler  and 
cried,"  Silence ! "  and  order  was  restored. 

"  What  is  the  name  of  the  new  boy  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  Thin'-je-zhin-ga,"  answered  one  of  the 
boys. 

Gray -beard  tried  to  repeat  the  name,  but 
only  set  the  whole  school  laughing.  While 
this  was  going  on,  Little  Tail  reached  down 
to  his  belt  and  drew  out  a  roll  of  milkweed 
fibre.  It  was  his  ammunition.  He  tore  off 
enough  to  make  a  bullet,  chewed  it,  and, 
bringing  the  breach  of  the  pop-gun  to  his 
mouth,  inserted  the  ball,  twisting  the  gun 
with  his  hands  while  he  pressed  the  wad  in 
with  his  teeth,  making  many  motions  with 
his  head.  By  pounding  the  butt  of  the 
rammer  on  the  floor,  he  drove  the  ball  to 
the  firing  point;  then  raising  the  gun  he 
began  forcing  the  ball  with  vigorous  thrusts, 
aiming  it  at  a  mischievous  boy  who  sat  oppo 
site  making  faces  at  him.  Bang !  went  the 
weapon;  the  bullet,  instead  of  hitting  the 
object  aimed  at,  struck  Gray-beard  in  the  face, 
107 


The  Middle  Five 

and  made  him  throw  his  head  back.  We 
covered  our  faces  to  suppress  the  giggles 
that  bubbled  up  at  this  mishap.  The 
wounded  man  looked  sharply  at  the  young 
artillerist,  who,  seeing  the  mischief  he  had 
done,  very  slyly  thrust  his  gun  into  his  robe, 
and,  keeping  an  eye  on  his  victim,  sat  per 
fectly  still. 

The  teacher  looked  serious,  then  we  be 
came  scared.  After  a  moment  his  face 
relaxed,  and  he  said  in  a  pleasant  tone, 
"  We  must  have  the  name  of  the  new  boy  on 
the  Eegister,  but  we  cannot  have  any  name 
that  is  unpronounceable.  We  shall  have  to 
give  him  an  English  name.  Will  you  sug 
gest  one  ? " 

A  number  of  hands  went  up  and  as  many 
historic  names  were  offered  and  rejected. 
Finally  it  was  determined  to  call  him  Wil 
liam  T.  Sherman  and  that  name  was  entered 
upon  the  Eegister. 

After  school  a  few  boys  were  detailed  to 
wash  and  dress  the  new  arrival ;  so,  with 
arms  full  of  clothing,  towels,  and  other 
bathing  appliances,  the  lad  was  taken  up 
to  the  boys'  dormitory.  The  first  thing  to 
108 


William  T.  Sherman 

be  done  was  to  cut  his  long  hair.  A  towel 
was  put  around  his  neck,  and  soon  the 
shears  were  singing  a  tune  about  his  ears. 
He  seemed  to  enjoy  it,  and  laughed  at  the 
jokes  made  by  the  boys;  but  when  by  some 
chance  he  caught  sight  of  his  scalp-lock  ly 
ing  on  the  floor  like  a  little  black  snake,  he 
put  his  fists  into  his  eyes  and  fell  to  sob 
bing  as  though  his  heart  would  break. 

"  Pshaw ! "  said  li ttle  Isaac,  rubbing  his 
closely  cropped  head,  "  mine  was  longer 
than  yours  when  it  was  cut  off,  but  I  did  n't 
cry!" 

"  Mine  too  ! "  exclaimed  Abraham,  pick 
ing  up  the  braided  lock  and  putting  it 
where  his  had  been ;  at  which  the  rest  of 
the  boys  laughed. 

When  the  bath  was  over,  William  T.  Sher 
man  was  dressed.  He  was  delighted  with 
his  brand-new  clothes,  particularly  with  the 
long  row  of  brass  buttons  that  adorned  the 
front  of  the  jacket.  When  it  came  to 
the  shoes,  his  grief  for  the  lost  scalp-lock 
was  clean  forgotten,  and  he  strutted  about 
to  show  the  boys  that  his  shining  black 
shoes  sang  to  his  satisfaction. 
109 


The  Middle  Five 

William  T.  Sherman  was  quick  to  learn, 
and  by  the  time  winter  was  over  he  was 
speaking  the  peculiar  English  used  by  the 
boys  of  the  school ;  he  said,  "  fool  bird,"  for 
quail ;  "  first  time,"  for  long  ago,  and  other 
Indian  expressions  turned  into  English. 
He  was  fond  of  arithmetic,  and  spent  much 
time  ciphering  on  his  slate ;  he  would  write 
down  the  figure  1,  2,  or  3,  add  to  it  a  string 
of  aughts,  and  then  try  to  read  them  off. 
Grammar  he  abhorred,  and  in  the  spelling 
class,  he  held  a  permanent  place  at  the  foot. 
In  out  door  sports  he  excelled ;  he  could  beat 
any  boy  of  his  size  in  leaping  and  running, 
and  we  had  yet  to  learn  other  things  in 
which  he  was  expert. 

One  day,  during  the  great  June  rise,  all 
the  boys  were  at  the  river  watching  the 
huge  drift  logs  floating  down  the  muddy 
Missouri. 

"  Say,  boys  !  "  exclaimed  Ulysses  S.  Grant, 
thrusting  his  hands  deep  into  his  pockets ; 
"  I  bet  one  hundred  dollars  that  river  is 
strong.  I  would  n't  like  to  swim  in  it ;  I  'm 
sure  the  eddies  would  pull  me  under." 

Gideon,  who  was  always  boasting  of  what 
no 


William  T.  Sherman 

his  father  could  do,  shouted,  "  My  father 
could  swim  clear  acrost  and  back  again ;  he 
ain't  'f raid  of  eddies.  He  —  " 

"  What 's  that  ? "  cried  a  number  of  boys, 
startled  by  a  heavy  splash  in  the  water. 
We  all  watched,  and  two  brown  feet  came 
to  the  surface,  wiggled,  and  disappeared. 
After  a  moment  a  round  black  head  slowly 
arose.  "  Ha !  Ha !  I  'm  not  'fraid  eddy  ! " 
shouted  William  T.  Sherman,  for  it  was  he. 
A  few  vigorous  strokes  brought  him  to  shore 
again. 

"Take  off  your  shirts  and  pants,  boys, 
let's  swim,"  he  said. 

We  did  so,  and  timidly  splashed  about  the 
shallow  edges  of  the  water.  A  large  tree 
was  drifting  down  near  the  middle  of  the 
river.  William  ran  up  along  the  bank  for 
quite  a  distance,  and  then  plunged  into  the 
water.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  watch 
him  as  he  threw  his  arms  up  and  down, 
moving  swiftly  toward  the  tree ;  he  reached 
it,  dived  under  it,  and  came  up  on  the  other 
side ;  then  he  scrambled  on  the  trunk  and 
shouted  for  us  to  come,  but  none  of  us  dared 
to  go.  After  a  moment  he  stood  up  on  the 
ii  i 


The  Middle  Five 

tree,  flourished  an  imaginary  whip,  and  cried, 
"  Git  up,  there  ! "  with  a  succession  of  swear 
words,  —  genuine  swear  words.  He  was  imi 
tating  the  Agency  teamster,  and  did  not 
know  what  he  was  saying.  He  had  heard 
the  servant  of  the  Government  urge  on  his 
horses  by  such  terms,  and  he  was  merely 
repeating  them.  Those  of  us  who  had  been 
at  the  Mission  a  long  time,  and  had  all  the 
Shorter  Catechism  in  our  little  heads,  and 
were  orthodox  by  compulsion,  if  not  by  con 
viction,  were  horrified  to  hear  those  dreadful 
words  uttered  by  a  pupil  of  our  school ;  for 
we  knew  some  severe  punishment  awaited 
the  little  sinner  should  there  be  a  traitor 
among  us  to  make  it  known  to  Gray -beard. 

Before  we  had  fairly  recovered  from  our 
shock  at  hearing  this  swearing,  we  were 
startled  by  a  cry,  "Job  is  drowning!" 
Not  one  of  us  moved,  we  were  so  frightened ; 
but,  quick  as  a  flash,  William  T.  Sherman 
sprang  from  his  imaginary  wagon,  swam 
swiftly  to  the  boy,  caught  him  by  the  hair 
as  he  was  going  down  for  the  last  time,  and 
brought  him  to  the  surface.  "  Kick  !  Kick  ! " 
he  shouted ;  "  make  your  arms  go  !  Don't 

112 


William  T.  Sherman 

stop ! "     And  after  a  hard  struggle  the  two 
boys  landed. 

Job  had  swallowed  considerable  water,  and 
become  very  sick.  We  didn't  know  what 
to  do  for  him ;  but  after  we  had  rubbed  and 
pommelled  him,  and  held  him  by  the  heels 
head  downward,  he  felt  better ;  then  we  took 
him  to  the  Mission  and  put  him  to  bed. 

On  our  way  back  Sherman  spoke  very 
little,  but  those  of  us  who  had  been  fright 
ened  into  helplessness  had  much  to  say  as  to 
what  we  did  or  might  have  done  to  save  Job. 

At  supper  Gray-beard  as  usual  counted 
the  boys,  and  found  one  missing,  "  Where  's 
Job  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  He 's  got  the  th'tomick  ache,"  said 
Daniel,  his  mouth  full  and  his  spoon  raised 
half  way  with  a  new  supply. 

School  went  on  the  next  morning  as 
though  nothing  had  happened.  The  teach 
ers  had  not  heard  of  the  drowning  and  the 
rescue ;  but  the  girls  had  learned  all  about  it 
and  threw  admiring  glances  at  Sherman  :  to 
them  he  had  become  a  hero,  and  each  of  the 
different  gangs  among  the  boys  now  wanted 
this  hero  as  a  member. 
8  113 


The  Middle  Five 

The  recitations  for  the  afternoon  session 
were  over,  and  the  bell  was  tapped  as  a 
signal  to  put  away  our  books  and  slates,  and 
struck  again  to  call  us  to  order.  When  all 
arms  were  folded,  there  followed  an  ominous 
silence.  Gray-beard  slowly  looked  around 
the  school-room,  as  though  to  read  every 
face  turned  up  to  him,  then  he  spoke : 

"  I  have  been  told  that  some  of  the  boys 
in  this  school  are  in  the  habit  of  swearing  ; 
that  is  one  of  the  things  you  are  forbidden 
to  do.  It  is  wicked  to  swear,  and  any  boy 
that  I  find  has  been  doing  so  I  shall  punish 
very  severely.  I  want  you  to  remember 
this.  After  the  closing  exercises  William 
T.  Sherman  will  come  to  my  room ;  I  have 
something  to  say  to  him." 

All  eyes  on  the  boys'  side  turned  toward 
William  as  we  chanted  the  Lord's  prayer ; 
then  Gray-beard  made  his  usual  supplica 
tion,  during  which  the  big  girls  twisted  their 
necks  to  look  at  their  hero. 

The  exit  from  the  school-room  was  quite 

orderly,  but  as  soon  as  the  groups  of  boys 

passed  into  the  hall,  they  set  up  a  shouting 

and  singing,  and  made  off  to  their  different 

114 


William  T.  Sherman 

resorts  for  play.  We,  the  Middle  Five, 
were  the  last  to  go ;  and,  as  had  been  hastily 
arranged  between  us,  I  went  to  Gray-beard 
and  asked  some  trivial  question  in  order  to 
give  time  for  Brush  to  go  and  advise  Sher 
man  as  to  what  answers  to  make  if  he  was 
asked  as  to  his  being  guilty  of  swearing. 

"  When  he  asks  you  if  you  been  swearing, 
say,  '  No,  sir,  I  don't  know  what  swear  is,' " 
said  Brush  to  Sherman. 

"All  right." 

"  Then  tell  him  you  been  saying  what  you 
heard  Agency  man  say  to  horses ;  but  you 
don't  know  what  those  words  mean,  maybe 
they  're  swear  words,  you  don't  know." 

Gray-beard  went  up  to  his  room,  followed 
by  William  T.  Sherman,  who  for  the  first 
time  entered  that  apartment.  Boys  who 
committed  serious  offences  were  disciplined 
in  that  place.  I  was  taken  there  for  fighting 
Andrew  Johnson ;  Brush  took  his  punish 
ment  there  when  he  nearly  cut  Jonathan's 
ear  off  with  a  wooden  sword.  Most  of  us 
had  had  peculiar  experiences  in  that  room. 

William  T.  Sherman  had  come  to  us 
direct  from  a  tent ;  our  bare  school-room 


The  Middle  Five 

and  play-room  were  all  that  he  had  seen  of 
the  furnishings  of  a  civilized  dwelling,  so 
when  he  was  suddenly  ushered  into  Gray- 
beard's  room  he  was  quite  dazzled  by  the 
bright  draperies,  pictures,  and  the  polished 
furniture.  He  stood  with  hands  in  his 
pockets,  mouth  and  eyes  wide-open  staring 
at  the  things,  although  twice  requested  by 
his  host  to  sit  down. 

William  timidly  took  the  chair  assigned 
him.  It  rocked  backwards,  and  up  went  his 
feet ;  he  clutched  wildly  at  the  arms,  and  the 
chair  rocked  forward;  he  got  his  footing, 
then  sat  perfectly  still,  fearing  the  chair 
would  fall  over  with  him. 

Gray-beard  took  a  seat  facing  the  boy,  and 
began  to  question  him,  "  I  was  told  that 
you  had  been  swearing ;  is  it  true  ? " 

Bewilderment  at  new  sights,  and  the 
fright  of  the  rocking-chair  had  put  Brush's 
promptings  out  of  Sherman's  head,  and  in 
his  confusion  he  answered,  "Yes,  sir  — 
ma  'am." 

"  It  is  wicked  to  swear,  and  you  must  be 
taught  to  know  that  it  is.  Now  say  what  I 
say,"  and  Gray-beard  repeated  the  third 
116 


William  T.  Sherman 

commandment,  until  Sherman  could  say  it 
without  assistance,  and  then  bade  him  to 
keep  on  until  told  to  stop. 

Poor  William  sat  in  the  treacherous  rock 
ing-chair  repeating  this  commandment, 
while  Gray-beard  wrote  at  his  desk.  Wil 
liam  might  as  well  have  sat  there  imitating 
the  cry  of  some  animal  or  bird,  for  his 
mind  was  not  dwelling  upon  the  words  he 
was  uttering,  but  following  his  eyes  as  they 
moved  from  one  strange  object  to  another, 
—  the  pictures,  the  gilt  frames,  the  sea  shells, 
the  clock  on  the  mantelpiece,  then  some 
thing  hanging  near  the  window  absorbed  his 
attention,  and  his  tongue  and  lips  ceased  to 
move  as  he  drew  with  his  finger  on  his 
knee  the  figure  1,  adding  to  it  a  number  of 
aughts.  Gray-beard  noted  the  pause,  and 
said,  "Go  on,  William,  don't  stop."  After 
some  little  prompting,  the  boy  resumed,  but 
his  finger  kept  moving,  making  the  figure  1 
and  a  string  of  aughts  after  it. 

When  Gray-beard  and  William  T.  Sher 
man  left  the  school-room,  Brush  and  I  and 
the  rest  of  the  Five  went  toward  the  spring 
and  sat  under  the  large  elm.  Brush  lay 
117 


The  Middle  Five 

down  on  the  grass  and  read  a  book  he  had 
borrowed  from  the  superintendent,  while 
the  rest  of  us  talked. 

"  I  'd  like  to  see  that  boy  who  told  on 
William  T.  Sherman ;  I  'd  give  him  a  lick 
ing,"  said  Warren. 

"I'd  kick  him  hard,"  added  Edwin. 

"  I  bet  it 's  that  tell-tale  Edson ;  he  ought 
to  be  thumped  ! "  I  suggested. 

While  we  were  talking,  William  came  and 
sat  down  with  us.  Every  now  and  then  a 
quivering  sigh  would  escape  him,  although 
he  tried  not  to  show  that  he  had  been  cry 
ing.  Little  Bob,  believing  as  we  did  that 
William  had  been  whipped,  and,  desiring  to 
express  sympathy,  said,  "  Say,  did  it  hurt  ? " 
William  did  not  answer;  nobody  ever  an 
swered  Bob. 

"What  did  Gray-beard  do  to  you?"  I 
asked,  turning  to  William. 

"He  made  me  sit  down  and  say  a  com 
mandment  one  hundred  times." 

"  Which  one  was  it  ?     Say  it  to  us." 

"I  don't  want  to  say  it;  I  said  it 
enough."  After  a  pause  he  asked,  "What 
is  swear?" 

118 


William  T.  Sherman 

"  When  you  call  God  names,  that 's 
swear,"  said  Warren. 

"  I  don't  do  that.  I  know  God,  it 's  the 
same  Omahas  call  Wa-kon-da ;  but  I  don't 
know  what  means  lord." 

"  It 's  a  man  just  like  big  chief,"  explained 
Lester ;  "  he  has  plenty  of  horses  and  lots  of 
money.  When  he  tells  anybody  to  do  any 
thing,  he  got  to  do  it ;  that 's  a  lord." 

"  Is  Gray-beard  lord  ? " 

"  No,  Gray-beard  is  n't  lord." 

"  Say,  boys,  a  one  and  six  aughts  is  one 
million,  ain't  it  ? " 

"  Yes,"  we  answered  in  chorus. 

"  Gray-beard  is  lord.  He 's  got  one  million 
dollars.  I  saw  it  on  a  book  hanging  by  his 
window ;  it  had  a  name,  I  can't  say  it,  then 
Bank  and  Cap'tal,  and  then  a  one  and  six 
aughts,  —  that 's  a  million.  He  's  got  one 
million  dollars ! " 

Brush  threw  his  book  down,  raised  him 
self  on  his  elbow  and  looked  at  us  with  a 
smile;  then  he  said,  "I  know  that  book 
William  T.  Sherman  saw,  it 's  the  book 
Gray-beard  counts  the  days  by,  and  it's 
got  on  it  what  they  call  advertisement. 
119 


The  Middle  Five 

That  bank  wants  people  to  know  it  has  one 
million  dollars  capital  to  go  by ;  I  learned 
that  in  my  arithmetic.  Gray-beard  is  n't 
a  lord ;  he  's  a  missionary,  —  the  same  kind 
that  goes  to  Africa  and  Greenland's  icy 
mountains." 


1 20 


Chapter   X 
A  Runaway 

VACATION"  had  come,  and  the  Indians 
were  about  to  start  on  their  annual 
summer  buffalo  hunt.  Some  of  the  scholars 
were  to  accompany  their  parents,  and  others, 
after  a  brief  home  visit,  were  to  return  to 
the  school  and  continue  their  studies  while 
the  tribe  was  away. 

In  the  three  villages  there  was  great 
hurry  and  bustle  in  every  family.  Pack 
saddles  were  brought  out  of  the  caches 
where  they  had  lain  through  the  winter. 
The  task  of  mending  them  fell  to  the  older 
people  of  the  household,  while  the  younger 
folk  busied  themselves  in  retrimming  their 
more  ornate  trappings.  Goods  not  necessary 
for  the  journey  were  stored  away,  and  the 
dwellings  were  made  ready  for  the  long 
absence. 

At  last  there  remained  but  one  day  before 
the  time  set  for  the  departure  of  the  tribe. 
In  the  afternoon  I  bade  my  parents  good- 
by,  and  reluctantly  returned  to  the  school 

121 


The  Middle  Five 

Quite  a  number  of  the  boys  and  girls  had 
already  come  back,  among  them  Lester  and 
Warren.  Brush  had  not  left  the  school,  so 
on  my  arrival  I  received  from  the  three  boys 
the  usual  greetings  we  accorded  each  other 
when  one  returned  after  an  absence.  We 
four  paced  the  long  front  porch,  arm  in  arm, 
for  a  while,  and  then  went  and  sat  down  in 
the  shade  of  a  tree. 

"  Where  is  Edwin  ? "  asked  Brush ;  "  is  n't 
he  coming  back  ? " 

"  No,"  I  replied ;  "  his  mother  wanted  him 
to ;  but  his  father  did  n't  want  to  leave  him 
behind,  so  he  's  going  on  the  hunt." 

"He'll  have  lots  of  fun,"  said  Warren; 
"  I  wish  I  could  go  ! " 

The  next  morning,  immediately  after 
breakfast,  Brush  borrowed  the  superinten 
dent's  spy-glass,  and  we  went  to  a  high 
point  whence  we  could  watch  the  movements 
of  the  people  in  the  village  nearest  the 
school.  We  took  turns  in  looking  through 
the  glass.  Already  the  head  of  the  great 
caravan  had  gone  behind  the  first  hill,  but 
my  family  had  not  yet  started.  We  looked 
toward  Edwin's  house,  and  saw  that  the 

122 


A  Runaway 

people  were  just  moving.  It  was  a  wonder 
ful  sight  to  us,  the  long  procession  on  the 
winding  trail,  like  a  great  serpent  of  varied 
and  brilliant  colors.  At  last  I  saw  my 
father  mount  a  horse  and  move  forward,  the 
rest  of  the  family  followed  him,  and  I 
watched  them  until  they  finally  disappeared 
beyond  the  green  hills.  It  was  nearly  noon 
when  the  end  of  the  line  went  out  of 
sight. 

While  the  movements  were  going  on  in 
the  village,  we  could  hear  the  neighing  of 
horses,  the  barking  of  dogs,  and  the  hum  of 
voices,  but  now  there  was  a  stillness  in  the 
deserted  village  which  brought  upon  us  a 
sense  of  loneliness  that  was  hard  to  over 
come.  We  slowly  returned  to  the  Mission 
and  ate  our  noonday  meal  without  speaking. 
There  seemed  to  be  a  general  depression 
among  the  remaining  pupils  at  the  school. 
A  silence  pervaded  all  the  surroundings 
which  made  each  boy  wish  to  retire  from 
the  other  and  to  be  alone. 

At  breakfast,  the  next  morning,  there  was 
the  same  sense  of  stillness ;  even  the  superin 
tendent  and  the  teachers  at  their  table 
123 


The  Middle  Five 

seemed  to  be  homesick,  and  they  passed  the 
dishes  to  each  other  in  silence.  The  read 
ing  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  prayer  of  the 
superintendent  was  in  a  tone  that  added  to 
the  gloominess  which  had  taken  possession 
of  our  simple  little  souls. 

As  we  were  slowly  marching  out  of  the 
dining-room,  when  the  worship  was  over, 
the  superintendent  stopped  Brush  and  said 
to  him : 

"  I  want  you  to  go  after  the  mail  this 
morning ;  go  on  horse-back  so  as  to  get  back 
soon.  I  have  some  work  for  you  to  do  this 
afternoon.  Take  Dolly,  and  use  the  large 
saddle ;  the  other  one  needs  mending." 

"  Let 's  go  down  to  the  spring,"  said  Les 
ter  to  Warren  and  me. 

So  while  Brush  went  to  the  barn  to  saddle 
up,  we  three  went  to  the  spring  and  sat 
under  an  elm  that  stood  near  by. 

"  Say,  boys,  I  'm  going  to  the  hunt ! "  said 
Lester,  startling  us  with  the  sudden  an 
nouncement;  "I  heard  that  two  families 
down  at  the  Wood-eaters'  village  can't  get 
away  for  two  days  yet,  and  I  'm  going  down 
there  so  I  can  go  with  them.  The  Omahas 
124 


A  Runaway 

always  wait  on  the  Wa-tae  (Elkhorn  Eiver), 
for  those  that  are  last." 

"  If  you  're  going,  I  'm  going  too,"  spoke 
up  Warren ;  "  I  don't  want  to  stay  here." 

"  If  you  two  go,  I  'm  going  ! "  I  exclaimed. 

"  All  right,  let 's  all  go  then,"  said  Lester, 
rising.  "  We  must  hurry  up ;  some  one  might 
see  us ! " 

We  followed  a  narrow  path  that  led 
through  a  ravine  just  beyond  the  spring. 
We  were  in  the  greatest  excitement ;  every 
little  sound  aroused  within  us  the  fear  of 
detection,  and  we  frequently  sought  for  a 
hiding  place,  while  we  carefully  avoided  all 
well-beaten  paths.  Silently  we  plodded  our 
way  through  the  bushes  until  we  came  to  a 
hill  where  there  were  no  trees,  then  we  ran 
as  fast  as  our  legs  could  carry  us  for  another 
wooded  place. 

We  stopped  a  moment  when  passing  to 
take  a  look  at  the  village.  Silence  prevailed. 
Not  a  living  thing  was  astir.  Three  whirl 
winds  chased  each  other  along  the  winding 
paths  between  the  houses,  making  funnel- 
shaped  dust  clouds  as  they  sped  on. 

"  The  ghosts  have   entered  the   village," 


The  Middle  Five 

said  Lester,  in  our  own  language,  and  in  a 
melancholy  tone ;  "  they  always  do  that  as 
soon  as  the  living  leave  their  houses  ! " 

Entering  the  ravine  for  which  we  were 
making,  we  continued  our  journey.  The 
nettle  weeds  caused  us  much  suffering,  for 
we  were  barefooted,  and  wore  short  trousers. 
We  came  to  an  opening ;  before  us  lay  the 
road  to  the  Agency;  we  looked  cautiously 
around,  then  started  to  cross  it  to  go  into 
another  ravine  that  headed  toward  the  big 
village,  when  the  snorting  of  a  horse  was 
heard  with  startling  distinctness. 

"  Quick  !  quick  !  get  down  ! "  exclaimed 
Lester  in  a  loud  whisper,  as  he  dropped  into 
the  gully  of  the  old  abandoned  wagon-road. 

Warren  and  I  followed  hastily,  pulling  the 
tall  grass  over  us.  We  heard  the  footsteps 
of  the  horse  come  nearer  and  nearer  to  our 
hiding  place.  It  stopped  and  reached  its 
head  down,  and  began  to  nibble  the  grass 
under  which  I  lay  concealed.  I  looked  up 
through  a  slight  opening,  and,  behold  !  there 
on  the  horse  sat  Brush  with  one  leg  thrown 
over  the  pommel  of  the  saddle,  busily  read 
ing  a  book.  I  could  see  the  boy's  eyes  and 
126 


A  Runaway 

his  lips  moving  as  he  read,  and  at  times  it 
seemed  as  though  his  eyes  were  looking 
right  into  mine.  I  was  in  great  suspense 
while  the  horse  stood  there,  but  at  length 
Brush  picked  up  the  reins  and  urged  Dolly 
on.  As  soon  as  he  disappeared  at  the  bend 
of  the  road,  we  rose  and  darted  across  and 
ran  down  to  the  ravine. 

We  entered  the  big  village  of  sod  houses 
through  which  we  had  to  pass.  Here,  too, 
we  felt  the  sense  of  desolation  that  pervaded 
even  the  hills  around.  Somewhere  from 
the  midst  of  these  peculiar  dwellings  came 
the  doleful  howl  of  a  stray  dog,  the  only 
sound  that  broke  the  stillness  of  the  place. 
What  sensations  my  companions  experienced 
upon  hearing  the  melancholy  wail  of  that 
deserted  beast  I  do  not  know ;  but,  like  the 
rapid  advance  of  a  fire  over  the  prairie,  a 
thrill  that  made  the  very  roots  of  my  hair 
creep  vibrated  through  my  body.  Involun 
tarily  we  paused  to  listen ;  the  long-drawn 
moan  came  to  a  close,  and  the  ghostly  echoes 
carried  on  the  sound  as  though  to  mock  the 
lost  creature. 

"  Let 's  run ! "  exclaimed  Lester,  in  a 
127 


The  Middle  Five 

frightened  tone ;  "  let 's  get  away  from 
here ! " 

And  so  we  sped  on  until,  all  out  of  breath, 
we  were  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  village. 

The  shadows  of  the  hills  and  the  trees 
were  beginning  to  grow  long  as  we  reached 
the  foot  of  the  bluffs  where  lay  the  village 
of  the  Wood-eaters.  We  followed  a  narrow 
but  well-beaten  path,  wending  our  way 
among  the  tall  trees.  Suddenly  a  dog,  with 
tail  rigid  and  erect,  and  hair  bristling,  came 
barking  at  us  with  savage  fury. 

"  'Shta-du-ba !  'Shta-du-ba ! "  called  Lester, 
as  he  came  near.  "  It  is  I,  don't  you  know 
me?" 

The  dog,  on  hearing  his  name  from  a 
familiar  voice,  relaxed  his  aggressive  appear 
ance  and  assumed  one  of  joyous  welcome. 
He  jumped  upon  us,  licked  our  hands,  wagged 
his  whole  body  as  well  as  his  tail,  and  pre 
ceded  us  with  leaps  and  barks  of  delight. 

We  came  to  a  clear  space,  and  there  before 
us  against  the  deep  shadows  of  the  woods 
stood  a  solitary  sod  house,  the  smoke  lazily 
ascending  to  the  sky  from  the  top  of  the 
dome-shaped  roof,  making  a  picture  of  simple 
128 


A  Runaway 

contentment.  In  the  projecting  doorway 
stood  a  man  looking  intently  in  our  direc 
tion.  The  serious  expression  of  his  face 
changed  to  one  of  pleasure  and  amusement 
as  he  descried  the  three  school-boys.  When 
we  were  near  enough  for  him  to  fully  recog 
nize  us,  his  smile  burst  into  a  mirthful  laugh 
in  which  we  could  not  help  joining,  though 
to  us  our  business  was  full  of  seriousness. 

"  Woo-hoo  ! "  he  mildly  exclaimed,  "  what 
important  thing  is  it  that  has  brought  you 
here  at  this  time,  when  all  are  about  going 
away  ?  Your  mother  left  yesterday,"  he 
said,  addressing  my  companions,  then  turn 
ing  to  me  remarked,  "  Your  father  must 
have  gone  to-day." 

"  We  ran  away  from  school  because  we 
want  to  go  on  the  hunt,"  explained  Lester. 
"  I  know  my  mother  has  gone ;  but  my  uncle 
has  not  left  yet,  so  we  are  going  to  him." 

"He  is  still  here,  we  all  go  to-morrow 
morning  early ;  but  you  should  have  stayed 
at  the  House  of  Teaching ;  you  would  get 
more  good  there  than  by  going  on  the  hunt. 
You  know  the  way  to  Me-chah'-pe's  house, 
just  follow  that  path." 
9  129 


The  Middle  Five 

We  trudged  along  to  Me-chah'-pe's  house. 
The  family  had  gathered  about  an  outside 
fire,  and  were  eating  their  supper  in  the 
dusk.  Upon  our  coming  into  the  light  of 
the  fire  we  were  recognized ;  the  mother  and 
grown  daughter  greeted  us  with  exclama 
tions  of  surprise  and  sympathy ;  while  the 
father  and  the  two  sons  glanced  at  each  other 
with  expressions  of  amusement.  A  place 
was  assigned  us  in  the  circle,  and  soon  we 
were  busily  engaged  with  the  simple  fare 
placed  before  us  by  the  good  and  hospitable 
mother. 

"  Why  do  parents  when  they  go  away 
leave  their  children  at  the  House  of  Teach 
ing,  I  wonder  ?  "  commented  the  woman,  as 
she  apportioned  the  food  for  us.  "  Some 
people  show  no  signs  of  affection  for  their 
sons  and  daughters  until  they  sicken  and 
die ;  then  they  tear  their  hair  and  rend  the 
air  with  their  loud  wails.  It  is  well  enough 
while  the  parents  are  at  home  that  they 
should  place  the  young  ones  in  the  care  of 
the  White-chests ;  but,  when  going  on  a  long 
journey  like  this,  they  should  take  the  chil 
dren  with  them." 

130 


A  Runaway 

By  the  side  of  every  Indian  house  stands 
a  raised  platform  made  of  poles,  elevated 
upon  posts,  some  seven  or  eight  feet  high, 
planted  firmly  in  the  ground.  This  platform 
is  used  for  drying  corn  and  squash,  at  the 
time  of  harvesting ;  but,  through  the  summer 
when  the  people  are  at  home,  the  young 
men  and  boys  take  possession  of  it,  for  sleep 
ing  in  the  open  air.  As  weariness  began  to 
be  felt,  one  by  one,  the  family  arose,  and, 
without  formality,  each  sought  his  place  of 
rest.  We  school-boys  and  the  sons  of  Me- 
chahr-pe  repaired  to  the  platform,  climbing 
the  "stairs"  made  of  a  single  log,  with 
notches  cut  in  it  for  steps. 

This  was  the  first  night  I  had  ever  spent 
out  of  doors.  The  novel  experience,  and  the 
excitements  of  the  day,  filled  my  mind  with 
strange  speculations,  and  I  lay  awake  long 
after  my  companions  had  gone  to  sleep. 
Now  and  then,  I  heard  the  chatter  of  birds 
and  the  whirring  of  their  wings,  as  they  flew 
by  far  above  me,  and  I  wondered  if  they 
could  see  in  the  darkness.  The  roar  of  the 
river  filled  the  still  air,  and  the  crash  of  a 
tree  uprooted  by  the  current  sent  its  echoes 


The  Middle  Five 

far  and  wide ;  then  the  sounds  about  me  grew 
to  faint  murmurings,  until  I  was  conscious 
of  them  no  more. 

When  I  awoke,  the  dawn  was  coming,  and 
the  stars  were  beginning  to  turn  pale.  There 
was  a  gentle  stir  in  the  tent  near  by ;  a  tall 
man  came  out,  and  his  shadowy  form  passed 
from  view  into  the  slowly  rising  mist.  A 
woman  moved  noiselessly  to  the  fire-place, 
and,  bending  over,  began  to  gather  the  em 
bers  together,  blowing  them  to  life  with  her 
breath.  The  gray  streak  along  the  horizon 
slowly  turned  to  a  rosy  hue ;  here  and  there 
the  birds  began  drowsily  to  peep  and  twitter, 
then,  when  the  sun  shot  its  rays  through  the 
heavens,  a  thousand  voices  burst  into  raptu 
rous  song. 

My  companions  awoke,  and  one  by  one 
we  climbed  down  the  rude  ladder  to  the 
ground. 

When  we  gathered  for  breakfast,  the 
mother,  as  she  helped  the  food,  asked, 
"  Where  is  Na-zhe'-de-ah  ?  "  (Lester.) 

Warren  and  I  looked  at  each  other ;  neither 
of  us  could  explain  his  absence. 

"  Call  him,'*  said  the  good  woman,  address- 
132 


A  Runaway 

ing  her  son ;  "  we  must  hurry,  the  sun  is 
up!" 

No  response  came  to  the  young  man's 
call.  It  was  evident  that  Lester  had  slipped 
away  before  any  one  was  awake. 

Breakfast  over,  Me-chah'-pe  and  his  sons 
saddled  and  packed  the  horses,  while  the  wife 
and  daughter  gathered  the  various  utensils. 
Warren  and  I  tried  to  make  ourselves  useful 
by  holding  up  the  packs  with  our  shoulders, 
as  they  were  being  placed  on  the  horses. 

Me-chah'-pe  looked  at  Warren,  then  at  me, 
as  he  shouldered  his  rifle,  and  said,  "  I  am 
sorry  that  I  have  not  enough  horses  for  all 
of  us  to  ride.  You  see  those  I  have  are 
heavily  burdened ;  so  we  will  have  to  do  as 
our  fathers  did,  take  one  step  forward,  then 
another,  and  keeping  stepping  forward  until 
we  get  to  the  place  where  we  are  going. 
Are  we  ready  ?  Here  we  go  !  " 

And  we  did  go,  —  horses,  dogs,  and  all. 
Soon  we  were  joined  by  the  man  of  the 
lonely  sod  house  and  his  family,  and  together 
we  made  quite  a  cavalcade  as  we  went  up 
hill  and  down  hill,  and  up  hill  and  down 
hill  again.  By  and  by,  we  reached  a  long 
133 


The  Middle  Five 

ridge,  called  by  the  Indians  "the  tortuous 
ridge,"  which  zigzagged  in  a  westerly  direc 
tion,  and  along  it  lay  the  hunting  trail. 

The  sun  grew  hot ;  Warren  and  I  were 
drenched  with  perspiration  as  we  plodded  on. 
Every  now  and  then  Me-chah'-pe  gave  us  an 
encouraging  word,  when  we  showed  signs  of 
lagging.  We  were  determined  to  keep  on, 
for  were  we  not  going  to  a  buffalo  hunt ! 
The  heat  increased.  The  dogs  did  not  now 
chase  each  other  and  run  after  birds  as 
when  we  started  out,  but  let  loose  their 
tongues  and  panted,  keeping  close  to  the 
shadows  of  the  horses.  On  we  all  trudged, 
while  the  one  baby  slept  on  its  mother's 
back,  its  little  head  rocking  from  side  to 
side  with  the  motion  of  her  steps. 

As  we  reached  an  elevated  point  on  the 
ridge,  Me-chah'-pe  shaded  his  face  with  his 
hand  and  scanned  the  horizon.  Far  ahead 
of  us  his  experienced  eye  caught  sight  of  an 
object,  like  a  mere  speck.  He  pointed  it 
out  to  us,  saying,  "  There 's  somebody  com 
ing." 

Warren  and  I  looked  at  each  other  in 
alarm,  and  then  kept  our  eyes  on  the  speck, 


A  Runaway 

which  grew  larger  and  larger  as  the  distance 
between  it  and  us  lessened. 

"  The  horse  looks  like  one  of  your  father's,'' 
said  Me-chah'-pe  to  me.  "  I  think  it  is  some 
one  looking  for  you ! " 

My  heart  sank  when  I  recognized  the 
horse  as  father's,  and  the  rider  as  my  uncle, 
and,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  was  not 
glad  to  meet  him. 

Warren  and  I  were  captured,  and  there 
was  no  escape.  We  tried  to  be  brave  when 
Me-chah'-pe  shook  hands  with  us,  as  his 
party  moved  westward ;  but  we  were  far  from 
happy  when,  ignominiously  mounted  on 
father's  horse,  one  behind  the  other,  we 
followed  my  uncle,  who  walked  so  rapidly 
that  the  animal  had  to  trot  now  and  then  to 
keep  up.  The  road  over  which  we  had  so 
laboriously  travelled  on  our  outward  way 
was  soon  retraced,  and  the  sun  still  high 
when  my  uncle,  who  had  wandered  all  night 
in  search  of  us,  turned  us  over  to  Gray- 
beard. 

It  was  thought  best  to  punish  us ;  so 
Warren  was  taken  to  the  top  of  the  house 
and  locked  up  in  the  attic,  where  he  was  to 


The  Middle  Five 

reflect  upon  the  wrong  he  had  committed  in 
running  away.  But  I  am  quite  sure  he 
thought  more  about  the  devil  and  the  ghosts 
in  that  horrid  place  than  of  anything  else. 

As  for  me,  I  was  marched  to  the  dining- 
room,  placed  with  my  back  to  one  of  the 
posts,  and  my  arms  brought  around  it  and 
tied;  then  I  was  left  alone  in  this  uncom 
fortable  position,  —  to  repent 

The  afternoon  was  close  and  hot ;  the  win 
dows  and  doors  were  open,  but  the  place  was 
very  quiet.  Now  and  then  I  heard  the  cry 
of  a  bird,  or  the  laughter  of  the  happy  wren. 
The  time  seemed  very  long  as  I  stood  there, 
with  my  arms  thrown  back  around  the  post 
and  my  hands  tied  so  that  I  could  not 
defend  myself  against  the  flies  that  attacked 
my  bare  feet.  A  rooster  came  to  the  back 
door  and  entered  the  dining-room.  He 
shied  on  discovering  me;  but,  as  I  did  not 
move,  he  began  picking  in  the  cracks  of  the 
floor.  He  spied  my  toe,  looked  at  it  curi 
ously,  turning  his  head  from  side  to  side, 
then  stretched  his  neck  and  gave  it  a  dab. 
I  was  in  no  mood  to  be  amused  by  his 
actions,  so  I  sent  him  flopping  and  squawk- 

136 


A  Runaway 

ing  under  the  table.  Eecovering  from  his 
surprise,  he  ran  around,  sprang  on  the 
table,  then  on  the  sill  of  the  open  window, 
tossed  up  his  head,  flapped  his  wings,  gave  a 
lusty  crow,  and  hopped  out. 

Immediately  I  saw  eight  little  fingers 
hook  themselves  on  the  outer  edge  of  the 
window-sill,  and  a  head  with  black  hair  held 
back  by  a  rubber  cornb  rise  higher  and 
higher  until  two  bright  eyes  gazed  right 
into  mine.  The  head  disappeared,  and 
shortly  after  a  little  figure  cautiously  ap 
proached  the  door,  looked  all  around,  and 
then  came  up  to  me.  It  was  Rosalie.  Her 
bright  smiling  face  threw  a  sunbeam  into 
my  gloomy  little  heart.  Without  saying  a 
word  she  wiped  the  perspiration  from  my 
face  with  the  corner  of  her  apron ;  then  she 
went  away  softly  in  the  direction  of  the 
kitchen.  Soon  she  returned  with  a  tin  cup 
having  in  it  bits  of  ice.  She  took  a  lump 
and  put  it  in  my  mouth,  then  stood  looking 
in  my  face.  After  a  while,  she  said,  "I 
like  you,  don't  I  ? " 

"'Mh'm!"  I  assented  with  my  mouth 
closed,  nodding  my  head. 
137 


The  Middle  Five 

When  we  get  big,  we  're  going  to  be 
married,  ain't  we  ? " 

"'M  h'm  !"  again  I  answered. 

"We  won't  send  our  children  to  this 
horrid  old  place,  will  we  ? " 

"  'M  'm  !  '  M  'm  ! "  I  replied  with  empha 
sis,  shaking  my  head  and  stamping  the  floor. 

The  little  sweet-heart,  seeing  that  the  flies 
troubled  my  ankles,  went  out  and  came  back 
with  a  linden  branch  and  brushed  away  the 
pests.  I  slid  to  the  floor  and  sat  down  with 
my  legs  stretched  out.  Eosalie  dropped 
down  too,  and  sat  whisking  away  the  flies. 

Gradually  things  took  on  queer  shapes, 
and  the  sounds  seemed  to  come  from  afar; 
there  was  a  moment  of  confusion  and  then, 
—  I  found  myself  on  a  wide  prairie.  Heavy 
clouds  were  swiftly  approaching ;  the  thun 
der  rolled  long  and  loud,  and  the  lightning 
darted  hither  and  thither.  Off  in  the  dis 
tance  I  saw  a  forest.  I  pushed  toward  it 
with  all  my  strength  so  as  to  take  shelter 
before  the  storm  should  come  upon  me ;  but 
as  I  labored  on  there  crept  over  me  a  con 
sciousness  of  a  weight  upon  my  back  which, 
hitherto,  I  had  not  noticed.  It  retarded  my 
138 


A  Runaway 

progress,  and  from  time  to  time  I  was 
obliged  to  stop  and  give  a  little  spring  to 
shift  the  burden  higher  up.  A  cry  of  terror 
came  from  the  thing  I  was  carrying ;  then  I 
knew  it  was  little  Eosalie.  I  tried  to  speak 
words  of  encouragement  to  her,  but  my 
strength  was  fast  failing.  Great  drops  of  rain 
fell,  and  the  wind  drove  the  dust  into  my 
face,  blinding  me.  I  tottered  on  with  my 
load,  but  the  timber  was  still  far  away.  A 
vivid  flash,  a  deafening  crash,  and  I  fell  to 
the  ground  with  a  cry.  I  tried  to  rise,  but 
my  legs  and  arms  were  as  though  dead. 

With  a  start  I  opened  my  eyes.  The 
room  was  darkened ;  there  was  a  great  com 
motion  ;  all  through  the  house,  windows  were 
being  rapidly  closed  and  the  doors  swung 
to  with  a  bang.  A  terrific  storm  had  arisen, 
and  the  building  was  in  danger  of  destruc 
tion.  Eosalie  lay  asleep  with  her  head  rest 
ing  on  my  knees. 


Chapter  XI 

A  New  Study 

IT  was  a  hot  September  afternoon ;  our 
gingham  handkerchiefs,  which  matched 
our  shirts,  were  wet  with  mopping  our  faces. 
We  all  felt  cross  ;  Gray-beard  was  cross,  and 
everything  we  did  went  wrong. 

Warren,  who  had  been  sent  to  the 
spring  for  a  pail  of  cold  water,  leaned  over 
his  desk  to  Brush,  and  whispered  loud 
enough  for  the  boys  around  us  to  hear, 
"  A  big  black  carriage  came  up  to  the  gate 
just  now,  and  the  Agent  and  three  other  big 
fat  men  got  out.  The  super 'ten  dent  shook 
hands  with  them,  and  they  went  to  his 
room." 

While  Gray-beard  was  shaking  a  boy  to 
make  him  read  correctly,  the  news  of  the 
black  carriage  and  the  fat  men  went  from 
boy  to  boy.  The  girls  were  dying  to  know 
what  word  it  was  the  boys  were  passing 
around;  but  the  aisle  that  separated  them 
from  us  was  too  wide  to  whisper  across. 
Warren's  girl  made  signs  to  him  which  he 
140 


A  New  Study 

at  first  did  not  understand ;  when  he  caught 
her  meaning,  he  tore  a  fly-leaf  out  of  his 
book,  wrote  on  it,  rolled  it  into  a  ball  and 
threw  it  to  the  girl,  who  deftly  caught  it; 
these  two  were  adepts  at  such  transmission 
of  messages.  The  girl  unfolded  the  paper, 
read  it,  and  passed  it  on  ;  then  the  girls  felt 
better  and  resumed  their  work. 

The  class  in  mental  arithmetic  took  the 
floor.  Not  one  of  the  boys  knew  his  lesson. 
As  the  recitation  went  on  Gray-beard's  face 
darkened  and  his  forehead  wrinkled ;  he 
came  to  a  timid  youngster  with  a  hard 
question.  I  knew  there  was  going  to  be 
trouble  for  the  little  chap ;  so,  to  save  him 
pain  and  distress,  I  thought  of  a  plan  by 
which  to  distract  Gray-beard's  attention.  I 
reached  under  my  desk  and  took  hold  of  a 
thread  which  I  carefully  drew  until  my 
thumb  and  finger  touched  the  stiff  paper  to 
which  it  was  attached,  then,  as  the  boy 
stammered  out  the  wrong  answer  and  Gray- 
beard  made  an  impatient  movement  toward 
him,  I  gave  the  thread  a  gentle  pull,  "  Biz- 
z-z-z-z  !  "  it  went. 

"  Who  's  making  that  noise  ? "  asked  Gray- 
141 


The  Middle  Five 

beard,  turning  toward  our  end  of  the  school 
room. 

I  loosened  the  pressure,  and  the  noise 
ceased.  When  Gray-beard  returned  to  the 
boy,  I  again  pulled  the  thread,  "  Biz-z-z-z-z  ! " 
Something  was  wrong  this  time ;  the  buzzing 
did  not  cease,  it  became  louder  and  angrier. 

"  Who  's  doing  that  ? "  exclaimed  Gray- 
beard. 

Every  boy  and  girl  looked  up  to  him  as 
though  to  say,  "I  did  not  do  it."  The 
buzzing  went  on ;  I  alone  kept  my  eyes  on 
my  book,  and  so  aroused  suspicion.  I  did 
not  dare  to  put  my  hand  under  the  desk 
again  to  stop  the  buzzing,  for  I  had  lost  the 
thread.  Gray-beard  came  towards  me  and 
asked,  "  What  have  you  there  ? "  I  did  not 
answer. 

"  Stand  up  and  let  me  see  !  "  he  exclaimed. 
Before  I  could  give  him  any  warning,  he  put 
his  hand  in  the  desk  and  felt  about ;  he 
sprang  back  with  a  cry,  "  Ah  !  I  'm  bitten  ! 
Is  it  a  snake  ? " 

"  No,  it  is  n't,"  I  answered ;  and,  peering 
carefully  into  the  desk,  I  drew  out  the  buzz 
ing  thing  and  showed  it  to  him ;  it  was  only 
142 


A  New  Study 

a  wasp  fastened  by  its  slender  waist  to  a 
sheet  of  paper. 

Although  he  felt  relieved  of  his  fright,  the 
pain  of  the  sting  was  arousing  his  anger,  and 
I  saw  that  there  was  trouble  coming  to  me ; 
but  at  that  moment,  the  door  opened  and 
in  walked  the  superintendent  and  the  four 
fat  men.  Gray-beard  went  forward  and 
was  introduced  to  them.  There  was  a 
scramble  by  three  of  the  large  boys  to  get 
chairs  from  the  dining-room  for  the  visitors. 
When  the  gentlemen  had  made  a  quiet  sur 
vey  of  our  faces,  they  sat  down  and  ques 
tioned  Gray-beard  about  the  branches  taught 
at  the  school,  and  the  progress  made  by  the 
pupils.  In  the  meantime  I  had  released  my 
prisoner ;  it  went  buzzing  around  the  room, 
and  then  manoeuvred  over  the  bald  head  of 
one  of  the  visitors,  who  beat  the  air  with 
his  hands  to  ward  it  off. 

"Frank,  catch,  that  wasp,"  said  Gray- 
beard. 

I  caught  the  troublesome  creature  in  my 
hat  and  turned  it  out  of  doors. 

When  the  questioning  of  the  visitors  was 
over,  Gray-beard  turned  to  us  and  said, 


The  Middle  Five 

"  Now,  children,  pay  strict  attention  ;  these 
gentlemen  want  to  see  what  you  have 
learned.  I  will  put  some  questions  to  you." 

We  became  so  silent  that  we  could  hear 
a  pin  drop.  The  visitors  smiled  upon  us 
pleasantly,  as  though  to  encourage  us. 

"  Who  discovered  America  ? "  asked  Gray- 
beard.  Dozens  of  hands  went  up.  "  Abra 
ham,  you  may  answer." 

An  expression  of  amusement  spread  over 
the  faces  of  the  scholars  as  the  great  awk 
ward  boy  stood  up.  Gray-beard  must  have 
been  bewildered  by  the  sting  of  the  wasp 
and  the  sudden  appearance  of  visitors,  else 
he  would  not  have  made  such  a  blunder ; 
for  he  knew  very  well  what  every  boy  and 
girl  of  the  school  could  do ;  however  there 
was  no  help  for  it  now ;  Abraham  Lincoln, 
standing  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  had 
the  floor ;  he  put  his  weight  on  one  foot  and 
then  on  the  other,  the  very  picture  of  embar 
rassment  ;  he  cleared  his  throat,  looked  help 
lessly  at  me,  and  then  at  Brush,  —  "  Come," 
said  Gray-beard,  "  we  are  waiting." 

"  George  Washington  ! "  answered  Abra 
ham. 

144 


A  New  Study 

A  titter  ran  around  among  the  pupils. 
Gray -beard's  face  turned  red,  then  white,  as 
he  said,  "  Abraham,  take  your  seat.  Brush, 
can  you  tell  us  who  discovered  America  ? " 

"  Columbus,"  promptly  answered  the  boy. 
Then  a  series  of  questions  were  asked,  which 
the  children  answered  voluntarily,  and  did 
credit  to  their  teacher.  The  visitors  nodded 
approvingly  to  each  other.  When  the  ex 
amination  was  over,  the  Agent  arose  and, 
addressing  the  school,  said: 

"You  have  acquitted  yourselves  well  in 
this  sudden  and  unexpected  test ;  I  will  now 
ask  you  to  spell  for  me.  Here  is  a  book," 
said  he,  turning  the  leaves  of  a  pretty  gilt 
edged  volume,  "which  I  will  give  to  the 
scholar  who  can  spell  best." 

Taking  a  spelling  book,  he  gave  out  the 
words  himself.  We  all  stood  up,  and  those 
who  misspelled  a  word  sat  down.  One  by 
one  the  pupils  dropped  to  their  seats,  until 
only  Brush,  a  big  girl,  and  I  remained  on 
the  floor ;  finally  I  went  down,  and  the  girl 
and  Brush  went  on ;  they  were  now  in  the 
midst  of  the  hard  words.  At  last  Brush 
failed;  the  girl  also  misspelled  the  word; 
10  I4S 


The  Middle  Five 

but  as  the  prize  book  could  not  be  divided, 
it  was  given  to  her. 

"  Are  the  children  taught  music  ? "  asked 
one  of  the  strangers. 

"  No,"  replied  the  superintendent ;  "  but 
they  can  sing  nearly  all  of  the  Sunday- 
school  hymns." 

"  They  should  be  taught  music  as  well  as 
reading  and  spelling,"  remarked  one  of  the 
gentlemen,  then,  addressing  the  children,  he 
asked : 

"Have  your  people  music,  and  do  they 
sing?" 

"They  do,"  answered  one  of  the  large 
boys. 

"  I  wish  you  would  sing  an  Indian  song 
for  me,"  continued  the  man.  "  I  never 
heard  one." 

There  was  some  hesitancy,  but  suddenly 
a  loud  clear  voice  close  to  me  broke  into  a 
Victory  song ;  before  a  bar  was  sung  another 
voice  took  up  the  song  from  the  beginning, 
as  is  the  custom  among  the  Indians,  then 
the  whole  school  fell  in,  and  we  made  the 
room  ring.  We  understood  the  song,  and 
knew  the  emotion  of  which  it  was  the  ex- 
146 


A  New  Study 

pression.  We  felt,  as  we  sang,  the  patri 
otic  thrill  of  a  victorious  people  who  had 
vanquished  their  enemies;  but  the  men 
shook  their  heads,  and  one  of  them,  said, 
"  That 's  savage,  that 's  savage  !  They  must 
be  taught  music/' 

So  it  came  about  that  every  afternoon 
after  this  visit  we  spent  an  hour  on  a  sing 
ing  lesson.  We  learned  quite  a  number  of 
songs,  but  we  sang  them  by  ear,  as  it  was 
difficult  for  us  to  understand  the  written 
music.  We  liked  some  of  the  songs  we 
learned  very  much,  and  enjoyed  singing 
them  almost  as  well  as  our  own  native 
melodies.  Although  there  were  boys  with 
richer  voices,  Brush  was  fond  of  hearing  me 
sing  a  certain  song  we  had  been  taught ;  we 
always  had  to  give  it  when  visitors  came  to 
the  Mission.  I  can  remember  only  the 
chorus : 

"  Laura,  Laura,  still  we  love  thee, 
Though  we  see  thy  form  no  more, 
And  we  know  thou  'It  come  to  meet  us, 
When  we  reach  that  mystic  shore." 

One  day  the  teacher  said  that  we  must 
learn  to  sing  in  parts ;  hitherto  we  had  been 

M7 


The  Middle  Five 

singing  in  unison  as  the  Indians  do ;  so  he 
assigned  the  different  parts  to  those  scholars 
whom  he  thought  could  carry  them.  He 
met  with  no  difficulty  in  selecting  the 
soprano,  contralto,  and  the  tenor ;  but  he 
could  not  find  any  boy  who  was  willing  to 
try  the  bass.  He  had  given  me  the  tenor, 
but  as  he  could  not  find  a  bass,  he  said  I 
must  take  that  part  as  I  was  less  timid 
about  singing.  I  protested,  but  there  was 
no  escape  for  me.  We  learned  fairly  well 
to  sing  in  parts  a  few  pieces,  but  one  day 
the  teacher  gave  us  a  new  song  in  which, 
at  certain  places  in  the  chorus,  the  bass  was 
unsupported.  Our  first  attempt  to  render 
this  song  resulted  in  a  failure,  on  account  of 
my  embarrassment.  The  teacher  threatened 
and  coaxed  before  I  consented  to  make  an 
other  trial.  We  sang  very  well  together 
until  we  came  to  the  chorus;  when  the 
leader  indicated  to  me  to  remain  silent, 
while  the  others  drawled  out  the  first  two 
bars  and  came  to  a  rest ;  then  he  motioned 
quickly  to  me,  and  I  croaked,  "  Daisy  Lee ! " 
very  much  like  a  bull-frog.  A  smile  rippled 
over  the  school,  but  the  leader  went  on 
148 


A  New  Study 

waving  his  arms  and  nodding  to  the  others, 
who  again  drawled  out,  "My  dar-ling 
Dai-sy  Lee-e-e-e."  This  time  I  knew 
when  to  come  in ;  so  as  soon  as  they  reached 
the  rest,  from  the  very  depths  of  my  chest 
I  again  croaked,  "  Daisy  Lee  ! "  This  time 
the  whole  school  went  into  convulsions ;  the 
teacher  himself  could  not  control  his  laugh 
ter  ;  it  was  fun  for  everybody  but  me.  For 
weeks  afterwards  whenever  the  boys  saw 
me,  they  would  mischievously  shout  in  a 
bass  voice,  "  Daisy  Lee  ! " 

This  was  not  my  only  singing  experience 
at  the  school.  One  afternoon  the  superin 
tendent,  Gray-beard,  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
men  at  the  Mission  were  called  away  on 
some  urgent  business,  and  were  not  expected 
to  be  home  for  supper.  At  the  table  one  of 
the  ladies  presided  and  asked  the  blessing 
over  the  evening  meal.  It  being  warm,  the 
windows  were  thrown  wide  open  while  we 
ate.  When  supper  was  over,  the  children 
shifted  their  positions  and  waited  as  usual 
for  the  announcement  of  the  hymn.  The 
lady  made  the  selection,  but  there  was  no 
one  to  lead ;  a  hasty  consultation  was  held 
149 


The  Middle  Five 

at  the  first  table,  then  she  came  over  to  me 
with  her  hymn-book,  "Frank,  you  must 
lead  the  singing,"  she  said ;  "  none  of  us  can 
do  it." 

I  could  not  understand  why  I  should  be 
selected  to  lead  the  singing ;  but  I  took  the 
book  and  looked  over  the  hymn  that  was 
chosen.  I  knew  it  by  heart,  and  could  sing 
it ;  but  I  was  embarrassed  by  the  prominent 
position  given  me ;  however,  my  pride  would 
not  permit  me  to  make  an  excuse,  so  I  struck 
an  attitude,  and  thinking  it  the  proper  thing 
to  do,  I  imitated  the  music  teacher  as  well 
as  I  could,  and  searched  for  the  pitch  by 
making  a  sound  like  the  whinnying  of  a 
horse.  I  was  half-conscious  that  I  had  pro 
voked  some  amusement  at  the  teachers' 
table  by  this  performance,  but  I  boldly 
struck  out,  in  a  clear,  loud  voice.  All  joined 
in,  and  with  an  effort  sang  the  first  line. 
The  second  line  began  with  two  or  three 
very  high  notes,  difficult  to  reach  even  when 
the  tune  was  sung  at  the  proper  pitch;  I 
struck  at  them  bravely,  and  just  managed 
to  reach  them,  only  one  voice,  that  of  a  girl, 
was  with  me ;  no  one  else  had  ventured. 


A  New  Study 

We  two  went  on  and  finished  the  line ;  at 
the  beginning  of  the  next  we  were  joined  by 
a  third  voice ;  but  it  sang  a  very  different 
tune.  I  turned  to  see  who  it  was,  and  there, 
with  his  paws  on  the  window-sill,  was 
Edwin's  dog  howling  with  all  his  might! 


Chapter   XII 
Ponka  Boys 

«  T  T  700-HOO  !  Noo'-zhin-ga  pa'-hon  ba 

V  V  ma  kae  don'-ba  i  ga ! "  (Oh !  boys, 
get  up  and  look  at  the  snow ! )  exclaimed  a 
new  student,  ignorant  of  the  rule  against 
speaking  Indian. 

We  scrambled  out  of  bed  and  rushed  to 
the  windows.  Sure  enough,  there  was  snow 
on  the  ground,  and  the  trees  that  the  frost 
had  stripped  of  their  verdant  beauty  now 
stood  resplendent  in  a  mantle  of  white. 

Summer  had  gone.  The  myriads  of  little 
creatures  that  only  a  short  time  ago  en 
livened  the  hills  and  valleys  had  withdrawn 
into  the  recesses  of  the  earth,  or  other  places 
of  safety,  each  according  to  its  own  peculiar 
habit. 

Winter  had  come.  And  the  school-boy, 
defying  its  chilling  blasts,  dances  about  in 
the  crisp  snow,  or  on  the  ice,  shouting  to  his 
playmates.  Delighting  in  the  exercise  of 
every  muscle,  he  races  to  the  hill-top,  blows 
his  hot  breath  on  his  tingling  finger-tips, 


Ponka  Boys 

mounts  his  little  sled,  then  dashes  down  the 
hill  with  merry  shouts  of  laughter,  though 
the  snow  whirls  and  flies  about  his  ears  and 
beaming  face.  Again  and  again  he  takes 
this  wild  descent  until  he  hears  the  calling 
of  the  school-bell ;  then,  with  reluctant  feet, 
he  enters  the  class-room,  to  study  the 
divisions  of  the  earth  either  by  natural 
boundaries,  or  by  the  artificial  ones  made  by 
aggressive  man,  to  learn  about  weights  and 
measures,  or  to  memorize  the  great  events 
that  have  changed  the  conditions  of  nations 
and  of  peoples. 

Every  one  was  up  and  dressed  that  morn 
ing  when  Gray-beard  came  to  the  dormitory ; 
and,  after  repeating  our  prayer,  we  hurried 
down  the  two  flights  of  stairs,  making  a 
noise  like  thunder.  We  ran  into  the  yard, 
where  we  wrestled  for  a  while,  then  rubbed 
our  faces  and  hands  with  snow. 

One  of  the  teachers  asked  why  the  boys 
did  so.  "  All  boys  do  that,"  answered  Brush. 
"  The  old  folks  tell  them  to  do  it,  because  then 
their  faces  and  hands  won't  get  frozen." 

When  breakfast  was  over  that  morning, 
and  the  students  had  shifted  their  positions 


The  Middle  Five 

so  as  to  face  the  centre  of  the  dining-room, 
and  had  folded  their  arms,  the  superinten 
dent,  marking  with  his  forefinger  the  chapter 
he  had  selected  to  read  at  the  morning 
worship,  looked  up  and  spoke,  "We  want 
the  boys  to  learn  the  use  of  tools,  and  to 
make  things  for  themselves,  so  we  have  pro 
vided  the  boards  out  of  which  every  boy  in 
this  school  can  make  a  sled  for  himself. 
The  carpenter  will  give  to  any  boy  who  asks, 
the  materials  and  show  him  how  to  use  the 
tools  to  make  his  sled.  Of  course  this  must 
be  done  before  the  school  hour." 

We  looked  at  each  other  and  smiled.  The 
reading  of  the  Scripture  and  the  prayer 
seemed  to  us  to  be  unusually  long,  but  at 
last  they  came  to  an  end.  Then  every  boy 
hurried  and  scurried  to  the  carpenter's  shop. 
Soon  dozens  of  hammers  were  going  crack, 
crack,  and  the  saws  zip,  zip. 

"  Be  careful,  boys  !  Look  out  for  nails,  or 
you  will  ruin  your  saws,"  said  the  carpenter, 
and  he  smiled  good-naturedly  as  he  went 
on  marking  the  boards  for  the  next  appli 
cant. 

Suddenly,  in    the   midst   of  all  the   din 


Ponka  Boys 

some  one  exclaimed,  "  Hong ! "  which  is 
Indian  for  Ouch!  and  a  big  boy  danced 
about,  shaking  his  hand  violently  in  the  air? 
then  he  brought  it  down  and  pressed  it 
between  his  knees,  twisting  his  body  into 
all  sorts  of  shapes,  howling  the  while.  The 
hammering  and  sawing  ceased,  and  a  dozen 
voices  asked,  "  What 's  the  matter  ? "  Peter, 
who  was  always  clumsy  in  his  movements, 
instead  of  hitting  the  nail  he  was  driving, 
had  struck  his  thumb  and  smashed  it.  The 
traditional  "  Indian  stoicism "  was  not  in 
him,  so  he  kept  up  his  howling  until  the 
carpenter  had  put  on  a  tobacco  poultice  and 
bandaged  the  injured  thumb. 

After  a  lively  coasting  on  our  new  sleds 
one  afternoon,  we  were  gathered  in  the 
school-room,  and  every  one  was  busy  pre 
paring  lessons.  The  arithmetic  class  was 
before  the  blackboard,  answering  questions 
put  by  the  teacher. 

"  Ulysses  Grant,"  said  Gray -beard,  "  sup 
pose  the  boards,  nails,  and  work  upon  your 
sled  cost  you  fifty-five  cents,  and  you  sold  it 
to  Edwin  Stanton  for  sixty-three  cents,  what 
would  be  your  profit  ? " 
i55 


The  Middle  Five 

Ulysses  moved  uneasily,  then  began  count 
ing  rapidly  with  his  fingers. 

"  Stop  counting  your  fingers.  Do  the  sum 
with  your  head/'  said  Gray-beard. 

Just  at  this  moment  something  like  a 
shadow  appeared  at  one  of  the  windows,  and 
all  faces,  except  Gray-beard's,  turned  in  that 
direction.  We  soon  made  out  that  the 
shadow  was  the  face  of  an  Indian  boy  with 
his  buffalo  robe  drawn  over  his  head  and 
spread  against  the  glass  to  exclude  the  glare 
of  the  sun,  so  as  to  give  him  a  better  view 
within  the  room.  His  black  eyes  peered  at 
us,  and  at  every  object  within  sight.  The 
figure  withdrew;  then  we  heard  a  voice 
speaking  in  our  own  language,  "  Come 
quick  !  Come  and  look  at  them  ! " 

Soon  the  windows  were  darkened  by 
dozens  of  the  queerest-looking  heads  we  had 
ever  seen.  Over  each  face  hung  two  long 
braids.  As  the  boys  pressed  their  noses 
against  the  glass,  and  wrinkled  their  brows 
in  trying  to  see,  they  made  the  strangest 
and  most  comical  of  pictures.  They  pushed 
and  climbed  over  each  other  in  their  eager 
ness  to  observe  what  was  going  on  inside. 

156 


Ponka  Boys 

We  could  not  help  laughing  at  their  ap 
pearance. 

Edwin  nudged  me  and  whispered, 
"  They  're  Ponka  boys ;  they  wear  their 
scalp-locks  in  front,  and  they  always  have 
two." 

"Don't  they  look  funny?"  shouted  a 
Ponka  boy  at  the  middle  window.  "  See,  see 
that  one  ! "  and  he  pointed  at  Warren  ;  "  he 
looks  just  like  a  little  owl ;  his  hair  stands 
straight  up,  and  he  has  such  big  eyes." 

Study  became  impossible,  and  the  class  in 
arithmetic  made  horrible  blunders.  Gray- 
beard  was  disgusted ;  in  vain  he  rapped  the 
desk  with  his  ruler ;  and  his  patience  found 
a  limit  when  Andrew  Johnson  said  that 
Ulysses'  profit  would  be  eleven  cents,  if  he 
sold  his  sled  for  sixty-three  cents.  He  gave 
the  boy  a  vigorous  shaking.  This  act  of 
discipline  delighted  the  little  savages  at  the 
window;  they  shouted  with  laughter  and 
the  ends  of  their  little  braids  fluttered  with 
the  breath  of  every  peal.  They  interspersed 
their  merriment  with  comments  on  our  ap 
pearance,  our  clothing,  and  the  absence  of 
scalp-locks  on  our  heads. 


The  Middle  Five 

"  What  are  they  saying  ? "  asked  Gray- 
beard,  looking  toward  the  windows. 

"  They  're  calling  us  names,"  answered 
Warren,  who  felt  sore  at  being  compared  to 
an  owl. 

Gray-beard  went  to  the  door;  as  he  opened 
it,  the  intruders  ran  swiftly  to  the  fence,  and 
sat  astride  of  the  top  board. 

"  Get  away  from  here  ! "  said  Gray -beard, 
in  a  loud  voice.  "  Go  home ! " 

"  How  do  do  !  Goo-by  ! "  shouted  back 
some  of  the  little  rascals  with  boisterous 
jeers. 

"Class  in  history,"  called  Gray-beard  as 
he  closed  the  door;  and  a  number  of  us 
stood  in  line  at  the  usual  place. 

"  Philip  Sheridan,  can  you  tell  me  some 
thing  of  George  Washington  ? " 

All  eyes  turned  toward  the  youngster  who 
answered  to  the  name  of  George  Washing 
ton,  and  who,  neglecting  his  lessons,  was 
now  busy  drawing  on  his  slate  a  caricature 
of  a  boy  against  whom  he  had  a  grudge. 
Hearing  his  name,  and  thinking  he  had  been 
caught  in  his  mischief,  he  looked  up  with 
a  startled  expression,  and  rose  to  make  a 

158 


Ponka  Boys 

denial,  when  Sheridan,  fixing  his  eyes  upon 
him,  slowly  answered,  "  He  chopped  his 
father's  choke-cherry-tree." 

The  little  savages  returned  to  the  windows, 
and  began  chattering  noisily.  Suddenly  a 
number  of  them  stood  in  line,  imitating  the 
history  class,  while  one  of  the  big  boys  took 
a  place  before  them,  mimicking  the  actions 
of  Gray-beard  and  the  tones  of  his  voice,  by 
giving  the  peculiar  rhythm  of  English  to  his 
own  Indian  words. 

"Ah'-bru-zhe-dae !"  he  asked;  "do  you 
ever  wash  your  face  ? "  And  the  make- 
believe  class  went  into  fits  of  laughter. 

"  Ten  sleeps  ago,"  angrily  retorted  the  boy 
addressed,  "  you  stole  some  honey,  and  the 
smirches  of  it  are  still  on  your  face  ! " 

The  boys  were  convulsed  at  this  reply, 
and  so  were  the  boys  in  the  school-room ;  but 
the  mock  teacher  took  a  different  view  of 
the  matter,  and  sprang  at  his  impudent  pupil, 
boxing  his  ears,  whereat  the  two  fell  on  each 
other  in  a  lively  tussle.  We  stretched  our 
necks  to  see  the  struggle,  and  Gray-beard 
also  watched  the  scene. 

All  at  once  a  Ponka  boy  shouted,  "  I  Ve 


The  Middle  Five 

found  something !  Come,  come  ! "  and  the 
crowd  moved  away,  leaving  the  two  to  finish 
their  wrestling. 

Before  long  we  heard  a  great  clatter  in 
the  hall- way,  and  then  the  Ponka  boys  were 
seen  marching  out  of  the  yard  with  our  sleds. 
We  heard  them  coasting  down  the  hill,  and 
this  made  us  very  restless,  so  that  we  could 
not  pay  any  attention  to  our  lessons.  By 
and  by  the  shouting  on  the  hill-side  ceased, 
and  Warren  leaned  over  to  Brush  and 
whispered,  "They're  going  off  with  our 
sleds!" 

Brush  raised  his  right  hand ;  Gray-beard 
saw  him,  and  asked  what  he  wanted. 

"  Those  Indian  boys  are  going  away  with 
our  sleds,  and  we  want  to  go  after  them." 

Permission  being  given,  in  a  twinkling 
there  were  twenty  or  thirty  school-boys 
charging  up  the  hill,  all  mad  as  hornets. 
We  overtook  the  Ponkas  midway  between 
the  school  and  the  village.  The  little  sav 
ages  turned  and  came  to  meet  us. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  said  the  big  boy 
who  had  played  teacher. 

"  We  want  our  sleds,"  said  Brush. 
160 


Ponka  Boys 

"  Come  and  get  them  ! "  was  the  defiant 
answer  of  the  Ponka  boys. 

"  That  we  will  do  ! "  answered  Brush. 

We  all  moved  forward,  and  then  fol 
lowed  a  scene  hard  to  describe.  A  terrific 
battle  took  place  between  us  and  the 
robbers ;  it  was  hand  to  hand,  and  shin  to 
shin,  for  hands  and  feet  were  .  the  only 
weapons  used. 

The  Ponkas  made  a  determined  resistance. 
I  cannot  very  well  relate  what  happened 
around  me  ;  for  I  was  engaged  in  a  lively  bout 
with  an  impish-looking  little  chap  for  whom 
I  had  taken  a  sudden  and  unreasonable  spite. 
It  was  hard  to  get  at  him,  for  he  was 
quick  as  a  wild-cat  in  his  movements,  and  he 
gave  me  a  number  of  vicious  blows  before  I 
could  touch  him.  I  noticed  that  he  was 
more  afraid  of  my  brogans  than  of  my  fists  > 
taking  advantage  of  this,  I  pretended  to  lift 
my  foot  for  a  fierce  kick ;  he  hopped  back 
wards,  and,  in  so  doing,  bent  his  body  toward 
me.  Quick  as  a  flash,  I  grasped  his  two 
braids,  pulled  his  head  down,  and  brought  my 
right  knee  up  against  it  with  tremendous 
force,  and  he  went  sprawling  in  the  snow. 
ii  161 


The  Middle  Five 

"  Frank,  Frank,  come  here,  quick  ! "  It 
was  Brush  calling.  I  turned,  and  there  he 
lay  under  two  of  the  Ponkas,  who  were  deal 
ing  him  heavy  blows.  In  a  second  I  had 
dragged  one  of  them  off,  and  Brush  had  his 
footing  again.  Some  one  shouted,  "  They  're 
running  !  they  're  running  ! "  and  the  boys 
we  were  fighting  broke  loose.  Then  all 
of  us  school-boys  chased  the  Ponkas,  and 
drove  them  into  their  camp. 

We  were  a  bruised  lot  when  we  came 
back  to  the  school ;  but  we  had  our  sleds. 


162 


Chapter    XIII 
The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

THE  small  boys  had  been  marched  to 
bed  at  eight  o'clock.  We,  the 
Middle  Five,  who,  for  the  first  time,  were 
permitted  to  stay  up  until  ten,  —  a  privilege 
hitherto  enjoyed  only  by  the  Big  Seven, — 
sat  around  the  fire  listening  to  Indian  tales 
told  by  Edwin  in  his  animated  way.  There 
was  no  light  in  the  room  save  that  which 
came  through  the  open  door  of  the  stove,  in 
front  of  which  the  story-teller  had  taken  his 
place.  The  flickering  fire  cast  a  ruddy  light 
upon  the  fine  features  of  the  boy,  and  the 
shadows  on  the  wall  danced  to  the  caprice 
of  the  restless  flames.  We  laughed  heartily 
at  the  mishaps  of  Ish-te'-ne-ke,  a  comical 
character  that  figures  in  the  folk-tales  of  the 
Omahas,  as  they  were  vividly  portrayed  in 
language  and  gesture. 

Outside  the  wind  was  moaning  and  sigh 
ing  through  the  trees  around  the  house,  at 
times   rattling   the  windows  vigorously,  as 
though  threatening  to  rush  in  upon  us  ;  and 
163 


The  Middle  Five 

from  the  neighborhood  of  the  graveyard  came 
the  mournful  sounds  of  the  hooting  owl. 

In  the  back  part  of  the  school-room,  where 
it  was  dark,  sat  the  Big  Seven,  carrying 
on  an  earnest  conversation  in  low  tones,  as 
though  to  exclude  us  from  their  confidence. 

The  leader  of  this  "  gang  "  was  a  youth  of 
peculiar  appearance  and  manner.  He  was 
tall  and  muscular,  with  prominent  nose  and 
cheek-bones.  Although  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  amusements  and  sports  of  the 
school,  often  inaugurating  them  himself,  we 
never  knew  him  to  change  the  expression  of 
his  face,  either  in  pain,  anger,  or  mirth.  We 
Five  often  had  talks  about  the  peculiarities 
of  this  singular  youth.  Brush  said  that 
"Aleck"  (the  boys  addressed  him  by  this 
name,  for  he  was  called  after  the  Macedo 
nian  conqueror)  was  turned  outside  in,  that 
all  his  laugh,  anger,  and  sorrow  were  inside 
and  could  n't  be  seen.  Edwin  declared  that 
the  boy  had  ceased  laughing  since  the  kill 
ing  of  his  father  by  the  Sioux,  and  that  he 
was  reserving  his  laugh  for  the  time  when 
he  should  take  revenge. 

The  mysterious  consultation  in  the  back 
164 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

part  of  the  school-room  came  to  an  end,  and 
one  by  one  the  Big  Seven  approached  the 
stove  and  mingled  with  us.  Aleck,  who  was 
the  last,  did  not  sit  down  in  the  space  left  for 
him,  but  drew  up  a  desk  and  perched  on  one 
end  of  it,  resting  his  feet  on  the  bench  where 
he  should  have  sat.  He  leaned  over>  sup 
porting  his  body  with  his  elbow  on  his  knee, 
and  shaded  his  eyes  with  his  hand.  We 
could  feel  that  for  some  purpose  he  was  look 
ing  into  the  faces  of  the  Middle  Five. 

As  the  Seven  took  their  places  among  us, 
Edwin  brought  his  story  to  a  close,  and 
we  fell  into  silence.  After  a  few  moments 
Aleck  cleared  his  throat,  and,  without  change 
of  attitude,  said  in  the  Omaha  language^ 
fearlessly  breaking  one  of  the  rules  of  the 
school : 

"  Boys,  to  you  of  the  Five  I  speak.  There 
is  not  a  '  gang '  in  the  school  that  has  not  its 
secrets.  You  of  the  Five  have  yours,  no 
doubt ;  we  of  the  Seven,  who  now  sit  with 
you,  have  ours.  We  respect  yours,  and  we 
have  every  confidence  that  you  respect  ours. 
Ordinarily  we  do  not  interfere  with  each 
other's  affairs ;  but  now  that  you  have  the 
165 


The  Middle  Five 

same  privilege  that  we  have  had,  and  we  are 
thrown  together,  we  of  the  Seven  think  that 
your  '  gang '  should  unite  with  ours  in  a 
secret  that  up  to  this  time  has  been  ours 
alone,  and  share  in  its  pleasures.  Are  you 
willing  to  join  in  it  ? " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Brush,  knowing  as  the 
rest  of  us  did,  what  this  secret  was;  "we 
are  willing." 

"  You  of  the  Seven,  are  you  satisfied  with 
the  answer  ? " 

There  was  silence.  "Then,"  continued 
the  leader  of  the  Seven,  "  I  must  have  the 
answer  of  each  one  of  the  Five." 

Brush  again  signified  his  assent,  and  the 
rest  of  us  followed.  Having  arrived  at  a 
mutual  understanding  which  awakened  in 
each  one  a  fraternal  feeling,  there  ensued 
among  all  the  boys  a  lively  chattering. 
When  the  fervor  of  the  friendly  demonstra 
tion  abated,  Aleck,  in  his  deep  voice,  said, 
"Wa'-tha-dae  shu-ge'ha!"  (The  Word  of 
Command  approaches.) 

Immediately  there  was  silence,  and  each 
one   held   his    breath    expectantly,   for   we 
recognized  the  ritual  words  of  "  the  Leader  * 
166 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

in  the  game,  "  Obeying  the  Command," 
words  which  had  been  sacred  to  genera 
tions  of  boys  who  had  preceded  us. 

"Those  are  the  very  words,"  whispered 
Edwin  to  me;  " now  listen,  hear  where  the 
Command  will  come  from,  and  where  it 
will  go." 

"  The  Word  of  Command  approaches," 
continued  Aleck,  with  unmoved  face;  "from 
the  head  of  the  N~e-shu-de  [the  Missouri]  it 
comes,  wrapped  in  a  black  cloud,  the  mantle 
of  thunder,  like  the  mighty  whirlwind  it 
comes  ;  the  great  trees  of  the  pine-clad 
mountains  bend  to  its  fury ;  its  voice  echoes 
through  the  valleys,  and  the  animals,  big 
and  little,  tremble  with  fear.  On  it  comes, 
sweeping  over  the  wide  plains ;  the  angry 
lightnings  dart  from  the  cloud ;  it  approaches 
the  village  of  the  Ponkas,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Niobrara,  passes  it  and  continues  its 
course  down  the  IsTe-shu'-de ;  now  it  has 
come  to  the  pictured  rocks ;  it  reaches  the 
bluffs  of  the  Cut-lake;  but  on  it  comes, 
swifter  and  swifter  it  comes ;  it  is  now  at 
the  old  Omaha  village,  at  the  graves  of  the 
little  ones ;  it  comes  —  it  is  here  ! " 
167 


The  Middle  Five 

There  was  a  pause,  and  we  all  waited  in 
suspense.  Just  then  the  wind  rattled  the 
windows  and  the  owl  up  in  the  graveyard 
hooted. 

"George  ! "  called  the  leader,  in  a  solemn 
tone. 

"  Present ! "  promptly  responded  George 
in  English,  as  though  answering  Gray- 
beard's  roll-call.  A  ripple  of  suppressed 
laughter  spread  among  the  boys.  Aleck, 
I  doubt  not,  was  giggling  inside. 

"  Edwin ! "  continued  the  leader,  in  the 
same  tone. 

"  Ah-ho  !  "  said  Edwin,  giving  the  response 
and  imitating  the  voice  of  a  grown-up  and 
serious  warrior. 

"The  Word  of  Command  is  before  you 
two,"  continued  Aleck,  "  the  Leader ; "  "  and 
it  is,  that  soon  after  Gray-beard  has  gone  to 
bed  you  are  to  go  to  the  village  and  enter 
the  house  of  Hae'-sha-ra-gae,  where  you  will 
see  a  woman  making  pemmican.  You  will 
say  to  her,  { Woman  ! '  we  are  the  com 
manded  and  the  bearers  of  the  word  of 
Command.  Of  you  we  demand  a  bag  of 
pemmican.  Give  willingly,  and  you  shall 
168 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

go  beyond  the  four  hills  of  life  without 
stumbling;  there  shall  be  no  weariness  in 
the  pathway  of  life  to  hinder  your  feet,  and 
your  grandchildren  shall  be  many  and  their 
succession  endless  ! '  Fail  not  in  your  mis 
sion.  Your  way  out  of  the  house  shall  be 
through  one  of  the  windows  in  our  dormi 
tory,  and  by  a  rope." 

"It  is  bed-time,  boys,  come  right  up," 
called  Gray-beard,  from  the  head  of  the 
stairs.  "  See  that  the  large  doors  are  bolted." 

When  we  were  in  bed,  Gray-beard  went 
softly  downstairs,  and  we  heard  him  open 
his  door,  close  it,  then  lock  it.  Some  of  the 
youngsters  were  still  awake,  and,  when  they 
heard  the  closing  of  Gray-beard's  door,  began 
to  talk.  It  seemed  as  though  they  would 
never  stop  and  go  to  sleep,  so  that  we  could 
carry  out  the  Word  of  Command.  After  a 
while  Aleck  thought  of  a  plan,  and  started  a 
game  often  played  by  small  boys  at  night ; 
he  said,  loud  enough  for  the  little  boys  to 
hear,  "  Tha'-ka ! "  Brush  and  the  rest  of 
us  repeated  the  word,  one  after  the  other, 
and  each  of  the  wakeful  little  fellows,  ac 
cording  to  the  rules  of  the  game,  was  obliged 
169 


The  Middle  Five 

in  his  turn  to  utter  the  word,  and  then  there 
was  silence,  for  no  one  can  speak  after  he 
has  said  the  word.  Soon  heavy  breathing 
among  the  little  ones  gave  sign  that  they 
had  entered  the  land  of  dreams. 

It  was  near  the  middle  of  the  night  when 
one  by  one  the  members  of  the  Big  Seven 
and  the  Middle  Five  noiselessly  arose. 
George  tiptoed  to  a  corner  and  brought  out 
a  large  coil  of  rope.  We  went  with  it  to 
the  window  directly  over  that  of  Gray- 
beard's  bed-room.  I  do  not  know  why  we 
selected  that  window,  the  only  dangerous 
one  in  the  dormitory,  but  there  seemed  to 
be  a  fatality  about  it.  Very  softly  the  win 
dow  was  raised;  George  slipped  the  noose 
at  the  end  of  the  rope  around  his  body,  then 
climbed  through  the  window.  Slowly  we 
let  him  down  the  three  stories  to  the  ground. 
Then  we  hauled  the  rope  up  again,  and  let 
Edwin  down  in  the  same  manner.  We 
closed  the  window,  leaving  space  enough 
for  the  rope,  which  remained  dangling. 

On  entering  the  village,  the  two  boys 
were  met  by  a  pack  of  noisy  curs  that 
snapped  and  snarled  at  their  heels.  As  the 
170 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

dogs  became  bolder  in  their  attacks,  the  lads 
struck  right  and  left  with  the  heavy  sticks 
they  carried ;  one  dog  limped  away  yelping, 
and  another  lay  thumping  his  tail  on  the 
ground,  stunned. 

The  door  of  the  house  designated  by  the 
leader  of  the  Big  Seven  squeaked  loudly  on 
its  rusty  hinges  as  the  boys  swung  it  open 
without  the  ceremony  of  knocking.  A 
woman  at  work  in  one  corner  of  the  room 
looked  up  at  them,  smiled  good-naturedly, 
and  said  in  a  sympathetic  tone : 

"  Such  a  dark  night  as  this !  On  what 
errand  do  they  come,  and  little  White- 
chests,  too?" 

Four  men  were  sitting  on  the  floor  around 
a  flickering  candle  playing  a  game ;  they  too 
looked  up  at  the  sound  of  the  door. 

"  Oho  !  "  said  the  man  of  the  house,  who 
was  one  of  the  players,  "  for  a  long  time 
you  have  not  entered  my  dwelling  on  a 
visit ;  I  fear  you  will  make  it  rain  !  Walk 
around  the  stove  and  break  the  charm." 

"  Don't  mind  him,"  said  the  woman, 
kindly  ;  "  tell  me  what  you  want.  Won't 
you  sit  down  ? " 

171 


The  Middle  Five 

The  two  boys  stood  hesitating,  then 
George  began  in  a  sepulchral  voice, 
"  Woman,  we  are  the  commanded,  the  bear 
ers  of  the  Word  of  Command.  We  come  to 
demand  of  you  a  bag  of  pemmican.  Give 
plenty  —  " 

"  Willingly,"  corrected  Edwin,  in  a  whisper. 

"  Willingly,  and  you  shall  go  beyond  the 
four  hills  of  life  without  —  without  —  " 

"  Stumbling,"  prompted  Edwin. 

"  Stumbling ;  there  shall  be  no  weariness 
in  the  pathway  of  life  — "  and  so  on  to  the 
end  of  the  ritual. 

The  woman  clapped  her  hands,  and  shouted 
with  laughter,  as  she  exclaimed,  "  If  your 
cloud  and  lightning  and  thunder  do  all  you 
say  they  will  do,  they  have  more  power 
than  I  supposed  they  had !  Sit  down  and 
wait  a  while,  and  I  will  have  some  pemmi 
can  ready  for  you." 

"Did  those  old  White-chests  teach  you 
all  that  ? "  asked  the  husband.  « If  they 
did,  they  have  been  stealing  the  rituals  of 
some  of  our  priests,  and  — " 

"  Oh,  let  them   alone ! "    said   the   wife ; 
"they  came  to  see  me." 
172 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

"  They  came  in  without  knocking  on  the 
door  ;  that 's  bad  luck ! "  the  husband  con 
tinued  in  his  banter;  "before  entering  a 
house  they  should  knock,  as  the  White- 
chests  do." 

"  Be  careful,  and  don't  spill  it !  "  said  the 
wife,  as  she  handed  a  bag  to  George,  who 
thanked  her. 

"  There  they  come ! "  said  one  of  the 
Seven  in  a  loud  whisper,  as  he  felt  a  tug  on 
the  rope  that  was  tied  to  his  arm. 

We  hastened  out  of  bed,  being  careful  not 
to  make  any  noise.  George  and  Edwin  sent 
the  bag  of  pemmican  first,  then  they  were 
each  pulled  up  and  safely  landed. 

We  had  built  a  fire  in  a  vacant  room  ad 
joining  our  dormitory  ;  into  this  warm  room 
we  repaired  with  our  bag,  and  sat  in  a  circle 
on  the  floor,  Indian  fashion.  On  a  little  table 
stood  the  one  candle  allowed  us,  shedding  a 
feeble  light.  Two  of  the  boys  had  stolen 
down  to  the  dining-room  for  plates.  Alex 
ander,  before  whom  the  bag  was  placed, 
divided  the  pemmican  equally,  while  we 
listened  to  George  and  Edwin's  account  of 
their  adventure.  The  plates  were  passed 


The  Middle  Five 

around ;  I  put  out  my  hand  to  help  myself 
from  my  plate,  when  a  member  of  the  Big 
Seven  stopped  me.  "  Wait,"  said  he ;  "  there 
is  something  more  to  be  done." 

Aleck  looked  up ;  we  all  became  silent ; 
then  he  took  a  tiny  bit  of  the  pemmican,  and 
held  it  toward  the  sky  for  a  moment  as  a 
thank  offering  to  Wakonda,  then  placed  it 
with  great  solemnity  on  the  floor  in  the 
centre  of  the  circle.  This  done,  we  fell  to 
eating,  telling  stories  as  we  feasted,  and  had 
one  of  the  most  enjoyable  nights  of  our  lives. 

From  time  to  time  through  the  winter  we 
had  these  nocturnal  banquets,  taking  turns 
in  going  to  the  village  for  our  supplies ;  but 
misfortune  overtook  us  before  the  season 
was  fairly  over. 

One  dark  night  we  had  our  meeting  as 
usual,  and  the  Word  of  Command  came  to 
Lester  and  to  Joel  of  the  Big  Seven.  When 
the  small  boys  had  gone  to  sleep,  we  brought 
out  our  rope  and  let  Joel  down  through 
the  window.  Then  we  put  the  noose  around 
Lester  and  proceeded  to  lower  him. 

It  chanced  that  Gray-beard  had  lain  awake 
from  toothache,  and  was  at  that  very  ma 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

ment  looking  through  his  window,  the 
curtain  of  which  he  had  neglected  to  pull 
down  when  he  retired,  and  he  saw,  slowly 
descending  outside,  two  dark  objects  ;  they 
grew  longer  and  longer,  then  they  suddenly 
ceased  to  move.  For  an  instant  he  felt  a 
slight  shock  of  fright ;  but  quickly  recover 
ing,  he  gradually  made  out  the  form  of  two 
feet  and  two  legs  without  a  body.  He 
sprang  out  of  bed,  threw  open  the  window, 
and  in  a  severe  tone  demanded,  "  What's 
this  !  Who  are  you ;  what  are  you  doing  ?  " 

Lester  struggled  frantically  to  climb  the 
rope  ;  we  tried  to  help  him,  but  a  large  knot 
caught  the  edge  of  the  window-sill,  and  we 
could  not  lift  it  over,  nor  could  we  let 
Lester  down,  for  one  of  the  Seven  had  en 
tangled  his  legs  in  the  coil,  and  before  he 
had  extricated  himself,  it  was  too  late  to 
save  our  companion. 

"  Who  are  you  ? "  again  called  Gray-beard, 
grasping  the  boy  by  the  trousers. 

"  It 's  me,  Lester,"  replied  the  lad. 

Seeing  that  the  game  was  up,  we  gently 
let  Lester  farther  down,  and  he  entered  Gray- 
beard's  room  through  the  window. 


The  Middle  Five 

In  the  mean  time  one  of  the  boys  had  run 
softly  downstairs  to  open  the  hall  door  for 
Joel,  who  had  not  been  discovered. 

Gray-beard  woke  us  up  in  the  morning 
at  the  usual  hour,  but  of  the  disturbance 
during  the  night  he  said  nothing.  At  break 
fast  the  subject  was  not  mentioned,  although 
we  listened  with  anxious  expectation. 

To  the  twelve  boys  who  were  engaged  in 
the  escapade  of  the  night,  it  seemed  as 
though  the  preliminary  exercises  of  the 
morning  school  session  would  never  end,  so 
desirous  were  we  to  have  the  punishment, 
whatever  it  might  be,  come  quickly  and  we 
be  rid  of  suspense.  The  last  name  on  the 
roll  was  called;  Gray-beard  slowly  closed 
the  Eegister,  put  it  in  his  desk,  and  during 
an  impressive  silence  turned  his  eyes  upon 
us  to  scan  our  faces. 

"  Lester ! "  said  he,  at  last,  "  you  will  step 
up  to  my  desk,  if  you  please." 

If  there  was  a  serious  matter  on  hand, 
Gray-beard  always  said,  "  If  you  please." 

Notwithstanding  the  very  polite  invita 
tion  extended  to  him,  Lester  reluctantly 
walked  to  the  desk.  Every  eye  but  two, 
176 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

those  of  Alexander,  was  fixed  upon  Gray- 
beard  and  Lester.  Aleck  had  taken  out  his 
writing-book  and  was  carefully  copying  the 
example  given  at  the  head  of  the  page, 
"Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  He  took 
particular  pains  with  the  capital  H,  finish 
ing  the  last  part  with  concentric  circles. 

"  What  were  you  doing  last  night,"  asked 
Gray-beard  of  Lester,  "  when  I  caught  you 
outside  of  my  window  ? " 

"  I  was  going  down  to  the  ground." 

"  Were  you  running  away  ? " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Where  were  you  going  ? " 

"  I  was  going  to  the  village." 

"  What  were  you  going  to  the  village  for  ? " 

No  answer. 

"  Who  was  letting  you  down ;  some  one 
must  have  held  the  rope  in  the  dormitory, 
who  was  it  ?  " 

No  reply. 

"  If  you  don't  answer  my  questions,  I  shall 
have  to  whip  you ;  who  else  was  going  with 
you  ? " 

Lester  looked  appealingly  to  Brush,  then 
to  Alexander.  Aleck  was  writing  the  sen- 
12  I77 


The  Middle  Five 

tence  in  his  book  ;  but,  when  he  heard  Gray- 
beard's  threat  to  whip  Lester,  he  arose 
without  finishing  the  last  word.  All  eyes 
turned  upon  him,  and  there  was  a  stir 
among  the  pupils. 

"  What  is  it,  Alexander,"  asked  Gray-beard, 
"  what  do  you  know  about  this  strange 
performance  ? " 

"  Lester  is  not  to  blame,  sir  ;  I  made  him 
go  out  of  the  window,  and  I  held  the  rope 
to  let  him  down." 

"  And  I  helped  him  to  do  it,"  came  from 
a  voice  in  another  part  of  the  room  ;  it 
was  Brush,  who  had  silently  risen ;  "  we 
compelled  the  two — we  compelled  Lester 
to  go  out  of  the  window." 

"  You  said  there  were  two  boys  who  were 
going  out  of  the  window,  who  was  the 
other  ? "  asked  Gray-beard,  determined  to 
find  out  all  the  participants  in  the  mischief. 

Those  of  us  who  knew,  looked  toward 
Joel ;  an  expression  of  fear  stole  over  his 
face  and  he  anxiously  awaited  Brush's 
answer. 

"I   did   not   say   that,   sir,"   he   replied; 
"  Lester  was  going  down  alone." 
178 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

Joel  gave  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"  What  made  you  force  the  boy  to  go  out 
of  the  window ;  where  were  you  sending 
him?" 

"  We  were  sending  him  to  the  village." 

"  What  were  you  sending  him  to  the  vil 
lage  for  ? " 

"  I  refuse  to  answer,"  was  the  bold  reply. 

Gray-beard,  seeing  that  there  would  be  no 
use  in  questioning  Brush,  turned  to  Alex 
ander  and  asked,  "  What  were  you  sending 
Lester  to  the  village  for  ? " 

"I  was  sending  him  to  go  there  and 
return." 

"  Alexander,  I  want  no  foolishness ;  tell 
me  what  you  were  sending  Lester  to  the 
village  for?" 

"  I  refuse  to  answer." 

"This  abusing  of  smaller  boys  by  the 
large  ones,  and  making  them  do  things  that 
are  improper,  must  be  stopped ;  it  has  gone 
far  enough.  Lester,  you  may  take  your 
seat.  Frank,  take  this  knife  and  get  me 
two  good  hickory  switches.  Do  you  know 
a  hickory -tree  ? " 

"Yes,  sir,"  I  answered,  as  I  took  the 
179 


The  Middle  Five 

knife.  I  knew  every  kind  of  tree  growing 
around  the  school,  and  I  had  a  suspicion 
that  Gray-beard  did  not  know  the  difference 
between  a  hickory  sapling  and  some  others. 
I  cut  two  formidable-looking  switches  of 
linden,  closely  resembling  hickory.  I  had 
time  to  fully  doctor  only  one  of  the  switches, 
by  driving  the  knife-blade  deep  into  the 
wood  every  two  or  three  inches.  When  I 
entered  the  school-room,  Gray-beard  took  a 
glance  at  the  switches,  then  said : 

"  Alexander  and  Brush  will  step  to  my 
desk  and  take  off  their  coats." 

The  two  boys  stood  in  their  shirt  sleeves ; 
I  kept  watch  of  Gray-beard's  eyes,  and  saw 
that  he  was  going  to  take  Brush  first;  so 
when  he  was  ready  I  handed  him  the  fully 
doctored  switch. 

"Is  that  hickory?"  he  asked,  trying  it 
on  the  air  ;  "  I  suspect  it  is  n't." 

I  made  no  reply. 

"  Stand  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,"  said 
Gray-beard  to  Brush. 

He  did  so.  Gray-beard  brought  down 
the  stick  heavily  on  Brush's  shoulders,  an 
inch  of  the  sapling  broke;  then  he  struck 
1 80 


The  Secret  of  the  Big  Seven 

faster  and  faster,  and  at  each  stroke  a  piece 
flew  off.  Brush  stood  with  clenched  fists, 
determined  not  to  show  any  flinching ;  but 
we  could  see  that  he  felt  keenly  the  blows. 
He  went  to  his  desk,  and  buried  his  face  in 
his  arms. 

"  I  am  afraid  this  is  n't  hickory,"  said 
Gray-beard,  throwing  on  the  floor  the  stump 
of  the  switch.  "  I  know  this  one  is,"  and 
he  dealt  blow  after  blow  on  the  broad 
shoulders  of  Alexander,  who  gave  no  sign 
of  pain.  The  boy  stood  unmoved,  every 
muscle  relaxed,  even  his  hands  were  open, 
showing  no  emotion  whatever.  The  stick 
was  worn  out,  and  Gray-beard  threw  the 
stump  on  the  floor. 

Aleck  put  on  his  coat,  then,  with  head 
uplifted  and  unfaltering  steps,  went  to  his 
desk,  took  his  pen,  and  completed  the  un 
finished  word  of  the  motto. 


181 


Chapter  XIV 

A    Rebuke 

IT  was  Saturday,  a  day  of  delight  for  the 
boys  and  girls  of  the  Mission  school, 
for  to  them  it  was  a  day  of  rest  from  the 
toil  of  study,  and  a  visit  home  was  per 
mitted.  On  this  morning  the  allotted  chores 
were  performed  with  redoubled  energy ;  for 
the  sooner  the  tasks  were  done,  the  earlier 
would  be  the  start  for  home,  the  sooner  the 
pleasures  laid  out  for  the  day  would  begin. 

The  boys  who  had  finished  their  work  and 
had  reported  to  the  superintendent  were 
already  on  their  way  to  the  village,  shouting 
and  singing  as  they  went.  Edwin  watered 
the  horses,  and  I  started  the  hydraulic  ram ; 
then,  having  received  our  formal  leave  to  go, 
we  chased  each  other  up  the  hill  toward  the 
village,  and  wrestled  until  we  came  to  the 
place  where  the  path  branched ;  he  took  one 
way  and  I  the  other,  but  we  continued  to 
chaff  back  and  forth  until  we  were  out  of 
hearing. 

After  greeting  my  father  and  mother,  the 
182 


A  Rebuke 

first  thing  I  did  was  to  run  over  to  the  barn 
and  see  the  horses.  When  I  had  rubbed 
the  noses  of  Kushas  and  Hintu  and  the  rest, 
and  had  pitched  down  from  the  loft  a  lot  of 
hay  for  them,  I  stepped  over  to  Ka-he'- 
num-ba's  house  and  looked  in  at  the  door, 
which  stood  wide  open.  His  wife  was  sit 
ting  near  the  stove,  quietly  working  on  a  pair 
of  moccasins. 

"  Where  is  Ga-im'-ba-zhe  ?  "  I  shouted. 

"  Oh  !  how  you  startled  me  ! "  she  said. 
"Your  uncle  has  gone  to  the  stable  with 
other  boys ;  he  left  word  for  you  to  go  there 
when  you  came." 

Hardly  had  she  finished  speaking  before 
I  was  off  like  the  wind.  On  the  ground  by 
a  fire  sat  Ga-im'-ba-zhe  and  the  boys,  all 
busy  making  game -sticks,  the  Indian  name 
of  which  we  Mission  boys  translated  into 
English  as  "  bone  slides."  These  were  made 
out  of  willow  saplings.  After  cutting  the 
stick  the  proper  length,  the  bark  was  re 
moved,  and  a  narrow  strip  of  it  wound 
around  the  peeled  stick,  which  was  then 
held  over  the  blaze  of  the  fire  until  the  ex 
posed  part  was  scorched.  When  the  binding 
183 


The  Middle  Five 

was  removed,  the  game-stick  presented  a 
mottled  appearance,  something  like  a  snake. 

The  brown  bodies  of  these  partly  nude 
little  savages  glistened  against  the  sun  as 
they  worked,  while  the  breezes  played  with 
their  black  totemic  locks.  They  were  not 
aware  of  my  approach  until  I  pitched  a  corn 
cob  into  their  midst,  when  they  all  threw  up 
their  heads  to  see  who  was  coming. 

"  Ho !  Little  White-chest ! "  exclaimed  Ga- 
im'-ba-zhe.  "  Have  you  come  home  ? " 

"Yes,  I  have  come  home,"  I  replied;  "but 
I  don't  want  you  to  call  me  White-chest." 

"  Sit  down,"  said  one  of  the  little  brownies. 
"  When  we  have  done,  we  will  give  you 
some,  then  you  can  play  with  us." 

When  the  sticks  were  finished,  I  was 
given  five  or  six  of  them.  The  tallest  boy 
led  the  game.  He  grasped  the  small  end  of 
the  game-stick  with  his  right  hand,  bracing 
the  top  with  a  finger,  then  he  took  two  or 
three  quick  side-long  steps  and  threw  the 
stick  against  the  ground  with  all  the  force 
he  could  command ;  it  bounded  up  and  shot 
through  the  air  like  an  arrow.  The  next 
boy  threw  one  of  his  sticks  in  the  same 
184 


A  Rebuke 

manner,  and  from  the  same  place.  All  the 
others  played,  each  in  his  turn.  Then  one 
of  the  boys  shouted,  "Your  turn,  little 
White-chest.  Throw  hard!" 

I  was  familiar  with  the  game,  and  by 
practice  had  acquired  some  skill  in  throw 
ing  the  sticks.  I  selected  one  that  seemed 
to  have  the  proper  weight  and  feeling,  took 
the  usual  position,  and  crouching  almost  to 
the  earth,  J  threw  my  stick  with  all  the 
force  that  I  could  muster.  We  watched  its 
flight  until  it  touched  the  ground  and  slid 
along,  far  beyond  any  stick  that  had  been 
thrown. 

"  Woo-hoo  i "  exclaimed  the  boys,  "  he  has 
beaten  us  all ;  he 's  won  all  our  sticks  l " 

"  Kill  him  !  kill  him !  He  's  nothing  but 
a  thieving  Winnebago ! "  This  cry  came 
from  the  west  end  of  the  village,  not  far 
from  where  we  were  playing.  Startled  by 
the  angry  words,  we  paused  in  our  sport,  and 
looked  in  that  direction.  A  crowd  began  to 
gather  and  move  along  the  path  that  led  out 
of  the  village. 

"What  are  they  doing?  Let's  go  and 
see,"  cried  Ga-im'-ba-zhe. 


The  Middle  Five 

We  all  rushed  forward  on  a  keen  run,  and 
reached  the  crowd ;  there  we  saw  a  lad,  a 
little  larger  than  we  were,  struggling  to  get 
away  from  a  swarin  of  boys  and  young  men 
who  were  throwing  stones  and  sticks  at  him. 
He  was  a  pitiful  object,  and  why  they  should 
abuse  him  so  was  more  than  we  could  under 
stand.  His  legs  and  feet  were  bare ;  he 
carried  on  his  arm  something  that  resembled 
a  worn-out  blanket,  and  in  his  hand  he  held 
tightly  a  piece  of  bread.  He  belonged  to 
the  Winnebago  tribe,  against  whom  at  that 
time  there  was  much  prejudice  among  the 
Omahas.  Mud  was  thrown  at  him ;  he  was 
pushed  and  jostled  by  the  crowd,  and  some 
persons  kicked  him.  Slowly  the  boy  re 
treated,  at  times  stopping  to  look  with 
pleading  eyes  at  his  merciless  persecutors. 
When  he  started  to  run,  some  one  threw  a 
stick  of  wood  before  him  ;  he  struck  his  foot 
against  it  and  fell ;  then  the  crowd  laughed. 

"  They  are  doing  wrong  ! "  exclaimed  Ga- 
im'-ba-zhe.  "  They  ought  not  to  do  that ! " 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  I  added ;  "  but  what  can 
we  do?" 

Just  then  I  felt  a  tug  at  my  sleeve.  I 
186 


A  Rebuke 

turned  to  see  who  it  was,  and  there  stood 
the  boy  that  did  errands  for  my  father. 
"  Your  father  wants  you  to  come  home,"  he 
said. 

I  was  a  little  troubled  at  this,  for  the  boy 
spoke  in  a  frightened  tone.  At  that  moment 
a  man  came  up  and  cried  in  a  loud  voice : 

"  You  are  commanded  to  cease  molesting 
the  boy ! " 

Eecognizing  the  speaker  as  a  messenger 
coming  from  the  chief,  the  rabble  dispersed 
in  groups,  like  angry  wolves. 

My  mind  was  uneasy  as  I  went  toward 
home,  and  I  felt  guilty,  though  I  could  not 
understand  why.  As  I  entered  the  house  I 
was  ushered  into  my  father's  presence.  He 
was  talking  earnestly  to  a  number  of  men 
who  sat  on  the  floor  smoking  a  pipe  which 
they  passed  from  hand  to  hand.  Among 
them  I  recognized  Ka-he'-num-ba  (the  father 
of  Ga-im'-ba-zhe),  Te-o'-ke-ha,  Du'-ba-mo-ne, 
Wa-hon'-i-ge  (Edwin's  father),  and  other 
prominent  men  of  the  village.  My  father 
seemed  to  take  no  notice  of  my  entrance, 
but  kept  on  talking.  When  he  had  finished 
speaking,  his  eyes  rested  on  me,  and  after  a 
187 


The  Middle  Five 

moment's  pause,  he  said,  "  Son,  step  to  the 
middle  of  the  floor."  I  did  so.  Then  in  a 
low  tone  he  began : 

"  I  speak  not  boastfully  ;  all  who  are  here 
have  known  me  from  boyhood,  and  will 
know  what  I  am  about  to  say  to  you  is  true. 
Even  before  I  grew  to  be  your  size  I  was  left 
to  face  the  difficulties  of  life.  I  have  felt 
the  pangs  of  hunger  and  the  chills  of  winter, 
but,  by  ceaseless  struggles,  I  overcame 
poverty  and  gathered  about  me,  as  I  grew 
to  manhood,  many  of  the  things  that  make 
life  bearable ;  yet  I  did  not  cease  to  struggle. 
I  have  won  honors  and  position  among  our 
people,  and  the  respect  of  the  tribes  having 
friendly  relations  with  us.  Success  has 
attended  me;  but,  remembering  my  early 
struggles,  I  suppressed  vanity,  and  gave  help 
to  the  poor.  When  journeying  with  my 
people,  if  I  saw  any  of  them  weary  and 
footsore,  I  gave  them  horses,  and  sent  them 
away  singing  for  joy.  The  stranger  who 
entered  my  door  never  left  it  hungry.  No 
one  can  accuse  me  of  having  tormented  with 
abuse  the  poverty-stricken  man.  Early  I 
sought  the  society  of  those  who  knew  the 
1 88 


A  Rebuke 

teaching  of  the  chiefs.  From  them  I  learned 
that  kindness  and  hospitality  win  the  love  of 
a  people.  I  culled  from  their  teachings  their 
noblest  thoughts,  and  treasured  them,  and 
they  have  been  my  guide.  You  came  into 
existence,  and  have  reached  the  age  when 
you  should  seek  for  knowledge.  That  you 
might  profit  by  the  teachings  of  your  own 
people  and  that  of  the  white  race,  and  that 
you  might  avoid  the  misery  which  accom 
panies  ignorance,  I  placed  you  in  the  House 
of  Teaching  of  the  White -chests,  who  are 
said  to  be  wise  and  to  have  in  their  books 
the  utterances  of  great  and  learned  men.  I 
had  treasured  the  hope  that  you  would  seek 
to  know  the  good  deeds  done  by  men  of 
your  own  race,  and  by  men  of  the  white 
race,  that  you  would  follow  their  example 
and  take  pleasure  in  doing  the  things  that 
are  noble  and  helpful  to  those  around  you. 
Am  I  to  be  disappointed?" 

As  his  talk  progressed,  he  grew  eloquent, 
and  louder  and  louder  became  his  tones. 
My  eyes  were  riveted  upon  him.  In  every 
feature  of  his  handsome  face  there  was 
reflected  a  mind,  a  will,  a  determination 
189 


The  Middle  Five 

that  nothing  could  break.  He  arose  to  his 
feet  and  continued,  pointing  his  finger  at 
me: 

"  Only  to-day  there  crept  to  the  door  of 
my  house  a  poor  boy  driven  thither  by 
hunger ;  he  was  given  food  by  my  command. 
Having  satisfied  for  the  time  being  his 
craving,  he  went  away  happy.  Hardly  had 
he  left  the  village,  when  a  rabble  gathered 
about  him  and  persecuted  him.  They  threw 
mud  at  him,  pointed  at  him  their  fingers  in 
derision,  and  laughed  rudely  at  his  poverty, 
and  you,  a  son  of  E-sta'-ma-za,  joined  the 
tormentors  and  smiled  at  the  poor  boy's 
tears." 

I  winced  at  this  accusation.  He  could 
accuse  me  of  almost  anything ;  but  of  this  I 
was  not  guilty.  A  hesitating  small  voice  at 
the  door  said,  "  He  did  not  join  them  ! "  It 
was  the  little  boy  that  came  after  me  who 
spoke.  I  was  grateful  for  this  defence,  but, 
as  though  he  had  not  heard  it,  my  father 
continued. 

"By  your  presence  you  aided  and  en 
couraged  those  wicked  boys.  He  who  is 
present  at  a  wrong-doing,  and  lifts  not  a 
190 


A  Rebuke 

hand  to  prevent  it,  is  as  guilty  as  the  wrong 
doers.  The  persecution  of  the  poor,  the 
sneer  at  their  poverty  is  a  wrong  for  which 
no  punishment  is  too  severe.  I  have  fin 
ished.  Go,  and  think  of  my  words." 

Those  at  the  door  made  way  for  me;  I 
passed  out  and  entered  my  mother's  room. 
She  looked  up  at  me  with  a  kindly  smile ; 
but  I  flung  myself  down  on  her  bed,  buried 
my  face  in  the  pillows,  sobbing.  My  mother 
did  not  speak,  but  went  on  with  her  work. 
When  I  had  regained  my  composure,  she 
bade  me  come  and  sit  beside  her.  I  did  so. 
She  put  an  arm  around  me,  and  said  in  a 
caressing  tone,  "  What  is  it  that  makes  my 
little  boy  cry  ? "  I  told  her.  She  sat  in 
silence  for  a  while,  and  then  spoke : 

"  Your  father  is  right ;  you  must  be  guided 
by  his  words.  You  had  a  chance  to  do  good ; 
you  let  it  slip  away  from  you.  That  poor 
boy  came  and  sat  at  the  door,  the  humblest 
place  in  your  house ;  he  did  not  beg,  but  the 
eyes  he  turned  upon  your  father  and  on  me 
told  a  tale  of  suffering.  At  your  father's 
bidding,  I  placed  food  with  my  own  hands 
before  the  boy ;  when  he  had  finished  eating 
191 


The  Middle  Five 

he  arose  without  a  word  and,  taking  with 
him  what  was  left  of  the  food,  he  went  out, 
giving  me  a  look  that  bespoke  his  gratitude. 
My  boy  must  learn  to  be  good  and  kind. 
When  you  see  a  boy  barefooted  and  lame, 
take  off  your  moccasins  and  give  them  to 
him.  When  you  see  a  boy  hungry,  bring 
him  to  your  home  and  give  him  food." 

The  mild  words  and  the  gentle  touch  of 
her  hand  were  like  ointment  to  my  wounds. 
When  she  had  finished  speaking,  I  put  my 
arms  around  her  neck  and  kissed  her. 

On  my  way  back  to  the  Mission  I  saw  a 
lad  standing  at  the  fork  of  the  paths.  It 
was  little  Bob.  "  Come,  hurry  ! "  he  said  ; 
"  I  Ve  been  waiting  for  you."  Together  we 
returned  to  the  school. 

After  supper  I  went  out  and  lay  on  the 
grass,  looking  up  into  the  blue  sky,  thinking. 
Twilight  came,  then  darkness.  A  bell  rang, 
and  all  the  boys  went  upstairs  to  bed.  I 
followed.  We  knelt  by  our  beds ;  Gray- 
beard  rapped  on  the  banister  with  his  pen 
knife;  when  there  was  silence,  he  said  slowly, 
and  in  a  low  tone,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in 
heaven,  Hallowed  be  Thy  name."  We 
192 


A  Rebuke 

repeated  with  him  this  prayer  that  was 
taught  over  a  thousand  years  ago.  The 
tardy  ones  with  labored  breathing  cut  almost 
every  word ;  but  I  repeated  them  carefully, 
and,  although  I  had  said  them  a  hundred 
times  before,  now,  for  the  first  time  since  I 
had  been  in  the  school,  I  began  to  wonder 
what  they  meant. 

Lester,  Edwin,  and  I  got  into  bed;  my 
place  was  in  the  middle. 

"  Frank,  what  makes  you  so  quiet  ? " 
asked  Lester,  nudging  me  with  his  elbow. 

Before  I  could  answer  Edwin  began  tug 
ging  at  the  sheet,  saying,  "  Lester,  you  Ve 
too  much  sheet  over  there  ! " 

They  both  pulled  the  bedcovers  and 
kicked  at  each  other  good-naturedly  for  a 
while,  and  then  quieted  down.  I  received 
some  of  the  kicks  too,  but  did  not  join  in 
the  fun.  There  was  silence  for  a  time,  and 
then  Edwin  said,  "Say,  boys,  I  Ve  been 
feeling  bad  this  afternoon.  When  I  got 
home  from  the  river,  my  father  scolded  me 
like  everything.  He  said  something  about 
my  being  with  some  boys  who  teased  a 
poor  Winnebago  boy,  and  he  talked  to  me  a 
13  193 


The  Middle  Five 

long  time.  He  never  give  me  chance  to 
say  I  did  n  't  see  a  Winnebago  boy  to-day  ; 
I  was  all  the  morning  down  to  the  river 
swimming.  I  couldn  't  understand  it,  and  I 
don't  now.  Say,  Frank,  does  your  father 
scold  you  sometimes  ? " 

"  Edwin,  tell  us  a  story,"  I  said. 

"  Do  I "  exclaimed  the  other  boys.  "  Tell 
us  a  story." 


194 


Chapter  XV 

Joe 

IT  was  recess.  The  laughter  and  shouts 
of  the  boys,  as  they  chased  each  other 
and  wrestled,  mingled  with  the  song  of  the 
wren  and  other  birds  that  inhabited  the 
woods  surrounding  the  school.  Not  less 
merry  or  boisterous  were  the  laughter  and 
calls  of  the  girls,  although  their  territory  for 
play  was  limited  and  fenced  in,  to  keep  them 
from  too  free  a  communication  with  the 
rougher  sex.  Study  and  work  were  for 
gotten,  and  every  boy  and  girl  romped  in  the 
sunshine,  and  the  atmosphere  around  seemed 
to  be  alive  with  happiness. 

Suddenly  the  boys  began  to  gather 
curiously  around  two  objects  upon  the 
ground.  The  girls,  seeing  this  unusual  stir, 
came  running  to  their  fence,  climbed  up 
as  far  as  they  dared,  and  asked  the  nearest 
boys  what  it  was  that  attracted  so  large  a 
crowd. 

It  was  a  pitiful  scene,  —  there,  sitting  on 
the  green  grass,  was  a  crippled  old  woman  of 


The  Middle  Five 

about  seventy  or  eighty  years,  speaking  in 
the  kindest  and  gentlest  of  tones,  with  in 
flections  of  the  voice  hard  to  describe,  but 
which  brought  to  one's  mind  the  twittering 
of  a  mother  bird  to  its  young,  and  passing 
her  crooked  fingers  and  wrinkled  hands  over 
the  brown  back  of  a  miserable,  naked,  little 
boy  who  was  digging  his  chubby  fists  in  his 
eyes  to  squeeze  away  the  tears  that  flowed 
incessantly. 

"  Don't  cry  !  my  little  grandson,"  she  was 
saying ;  "  don't  cry  !  These  White-chests 
are  kind ;  they  will  clothe  and  feed  you.  I 
can  no  longer  take  care  of  you,  so  I  must 
give  you  to  them.  See  these  boys,  what 
nice  caps  and  coats  and  pants  they  have! 
You  will  have  these  things,  too,  and  you  will 
have  plenty  to  eat.  The  White-chests  will 
be  good  to  you ;  I  will  come  and  see  you 
very  often.  Don't  cry  !  " 

But  the  boy  cried  all  the  harder,  twisting 
his  fists  into  his  eyes,  and  the  old  woman 
continued  her  caressing  twittering. 

The  bell  rang,  and  there  was  a  rush  for 
the  school-room.  When  the  hard  breathing, 
coughing,  aud  shuffling  into  position  at  the 
196 


Joe 

desks  had  ceased,  the  door  was  gently  pushed 
open,  and  the  old  woman  entered,  tenderly 
urging  the  unwilling  little  brown  body  for 
ward  into  the  room,  still  weeping.  Address 
ing  Gray-beard,  who  was  watching  the  scene 
with  a  queer  smile  on  his  lips,  the  old 
woman  said : 

"  I  have  brought  my  little  boy  to  give  him 
to  the  White-chests  to  raise  and  to  educate. 
On  account  of  my  age  and  feebleness,  I  am 
no  longer  able  to  care  for  him.  I  give  him 
to  you,  and  I  beg  that  he  be  kindly  treated. 
That  is  all  I  ask." 

Without  waiting  for  an  answer,  the  poor 
creature,  with  tears  streaming  down  her 
furrowed  cheeks,  limped  out  of  the  room, 
making  a  cheerless  clatter  with  her  heavy 
stick  as  she  moved  away.  The  little  boy, 
recovering  from  his  bewilderment,  turned  to 
see  if  his  grandmother  was  still  near  by,  and, 
finding  that  she  had  gone,  gave  a  piteous 
wail,  and  fell  to  the  floor,  sobbing  violently. 

Who  was  this  wretched  little  boy  ?     He 

was  his  mother's  son,  that 's  all.     He  had  no 

father,  that  is,  none  to  caress  and  fondle  him 

as  other  boys  had.     A  man  had  presented 

197 


The  Middle  Five 

the  name  of  the  boy  to  the  Agent  to  be 
entered  on  the  annuity  rolls,  only  to  that 
selfish  extent  recognizing  the  lad  as  his  son. 

The  mother  died  while  the  child  still 
needed  her  tender  care,  and  the  little  one  was 
left  all  alone  in  this  great  world  that  plays 
with  the  fortunes  of  men  and  nations.  The 
place  of  death  was  in  a  dreary  little  tent,  the 
rags  of  which  flapped  and  fluttered  in  the 
force  of  the  merciless  winds,  as  though  in 
sympathy  with  the  melancholy  situation. 
No  loving  husband  or  father  was  there  to 
prepare  the  body  for  its  last  resting-place, 
and  to  give  the  helpless  babe  the  nourish 
ment  for  which  it  cried.  Not  even  a  relative 
was  there ;  the  dead  woman  had  none  among 
the  people ;  she  belonged  to  another  tribe. 

As  the  mother  lay  an  unburied  corpse,  and 
her  child  wailing,  a  figure  bent  with  age  was 
plodding  by.  It  was  an  old  woman ;  slowly 
she  put  her  heavy  stick  forward,  then  took 
a  step,  as  though  measuring  every  move 
ment.  When  she  came  near  the  tent,  she 
stopped,  for  the  distressing  wail  had  pierced 
her  ears.  She  raised  her  trembling  hand  to 
her  brow,  looked  up  to  the  tent,  then  to  the 
198 


Joe 

surroundings.  The  wailing  went  on,  and 
the  decrepit  old  woman  hastened  toward 
the  tent  as  fast  as  she  was  able  to  go, 
and  entered.  For  a  moment  she  stood  still, 
contemplating  the  scene  before  her,  then 
from  the  fountains  of  her  tender  heart  arose 
tears,  impelled  not  by  the  sympathy  that 
naturally  springs  from  the  love  of  friend  or 
kindred,  but  by  that  nobler  and  higher  feel 
ing  which  lifts  one  toward  God,  —  the  sympa 
thy  for  human  kind. 

Thus  it  was  that  this  kind-hearted  old 
woman  took  the  homeless  little  child  to  her 
tent  and  cared  for  him.  The  two  were  in 
separable  until  the  grandmother,  as  she  was 
called  by  the  boy,  felt  that  she  was  fast  ap 
proaching  the  time  when  she  would  be  sum 
moned  to  join  her  fathers  in  the  spirit-land ; 
so,  to  provide  for  the  child's  future,  she  had 
brought  him  to  the  school. 

The  naming  of  a  new  pupil  was  usually  an 
occasion  for  much  merriment,  but  this  time 
there  was  no  enthusiasm.  The  school 
seemed  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  grand 
mother  who  went  away  weeping.  Instead 
of  raising  their  hands,  as  was  their  wont,  to 
199 


The  Middle  Five 

suggest  names,  they  sought  to  hide  their 
feeling  by  poring  over  their  books. 

"Come,"  said  Gray-beard,  "we  must  have 
a  name  for  this  youngster.  Be  quick  and 
suggest  one." 

There  was  no  response.  Finally  a  big 
boy,  who  was  busy  over  his  lessons,  said 
without  lifting  his  head,  "  Call  him  Joseph." 

So  Gray -beard  entered  that  name  on  the 
school  Register. 

Joe,  as  he  was  called  by  the  boys,  grew 
rapidly,  but  the  helplessness  of  infancy  clung 
to  him.  Because  he  could  not  fight,  he 
became  the  butt  of  every  trick  a  school-boy 
could  devise,  and  there  was  no  one  who 
would  do  battle  for  him.  If  a  big  boy  looked 
hard  at  him  he  would  howl,  and  if  one 
of  his  size  rushed  at  him  threateningly,  he 
would  shrink  with  fear.  He  was  incapable 
of  creating  any  mischief,  yet  he  was  con 
tinually  stumbling  into  scrapes. 

One  sultry  afternoon  as  I  was  sitting  in 
the  shade  of  the  walnut-tree  in  front  of 
the  school,  busy  making  a  sling  for  Bob  out 
of  an  old  shoe,  Joe  came  up  to  us,  and 
dropped  on  his  hands  and  knees.  With  the 

200 


Joe 

greatest  interest  he  watched  me  cut  the 
leather  into  a  diamond  shape ;  after  a  while 
he  ventured  to  ask,  "  What  yer  makin'  ? " 

"  Wait  and  see,"  I  answered,  and  went  on 
working.  When  I  had  finished  the  sling- 
strap  or  pocket,  I  cut  from  the  lappets  of  my 
buckskin  moccasin  two  strings,  making  a 
noose  at  the  end  of  one,  and  then  fastened 
both  strings  to  the  sling-strap.  Although  I 
did  not  say  anything  about  it,  I  had  deter 
mined  to  make  one  for  Joe  as  soon  as  I  had 
shown  Bob  how  to  use  the  sling.  He  tried 
to  find  out  from  Bob  what  I  was  making ; 
but  that  little  chap  would  not  speak  to  him. 

When  the  sling  was  finished,  I  told  Bob  to 
gather  some  rusty  nails  and  pebbles.  He 
was  off  with  a  jump,  and  returned  with  a 
good  supply  in  an  amazingly  short  time. 
Joe  still  sat  watching,  with  eyes  and  mouth 
wide  open.  I  put  a  nail  in  the  sling-strap, 
and,  to  show  Bob  how  to  use  the  sling, 
swung  it  around  three  or  four  times,  then 
threw  out  my  arm  with  force,  letting  one 
end  of  the  string  slip,  and  the  nail  sped  on 
its  way  through  the  air,  singing.  Bob 
clapped  his  hands  with  delight. 


The  Middle  Five 

A  crow  was  flying  lazily  over  head,  croak 
ing  as  he  went.  I  sent  a  stone  whizzing  up 
to  him ;  it  barely  missed  his  head,  and  he 
turned  a  complete  somersault  in  the  air,  to 
our  great  amusement. 

"  I  'm  goin'  to  make  one  too  ! "  said  Joe, 
suddenly  rising  and  hunting  around  for 
materials. 

I  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  went  on 
teaching  Bob  how  to  throw  stones  with  the 
sling,  little  thinking  that  we  were  drifting 
toward  an  incident  which  gave  Joe  much 
pain  temporarily  and  left  an  impression  on  my 
immature  mind  unfavorable  to  the  White- 
chests  which  lasted  many,  many  years. 

"  Mine 's  done  ! "  exclaimed  Joe,  holding 
up  a  sling  he  had  made  out  of  rotten  rags. 

"  Don't  use  it,"  I  made  haste  to  say,  "  and 
I  '11  make  you  a  good  one." 

He  paid  no  heed  to  rny  words,  but  went 
on  trying  to  balance  stones  in  the  old  piece 
of  rag.  The  stones  dropped  before  he  could 
swing  the  sling  and  throw  them.  Bob  kept 
me  busy  throwing  stones  for  him,  for  he  was 
afraid  of  hitting  the  boys  who  were  on  the 
hillside  near  by  playing  tag,  or  of  sending  a 
202 


Joe 

pebble  over  the  fence,  where  the  girls  were 
singing  and  chatting  over  some  of  their 
games. 

"  Look  now,  look  !  "  cried  Joe.  I  turned 
to  see  what  he  was  doing.  He  had  succeeded 
in  balancing  a  clod  of  earth  nearly  as  large 
as  his  head  in  the  rag  sling,  and  was  about 
to  swing  it. 

Just  at  this  moment  Gray-beard  came  out 
of  the  carpenter's  shop  and,  shading  his  eyes 
with  a  newspaper,  he  called  loudly  to  one  of 
the  boys  who  was  playing  tag, "  Ulysees !  Uly- 
sees!"  He  inflated  his  lungs  to  call  for  the 
third  time,  and  with  greater  volume  of  voice. 
Joe  had  swung  the  clod  of  earth  around 
for  the  second  time,  and  it  was  half  way  up 
for  the  third  round  when  the  string  broke ; 
released  from  its  holdings,  the  clod  flew  into 
the  air,  revolving,  and  dropping  loose  parti 
cles  as  it  went.  I  held  my  breath  as  I 
watched  it,  for  I  saw  just  where  it  was  going 
to  strike. 

In  throwing  a   stone  at   some   object,  I 

used  to  imagine  that  by  keeping  a  steady  eye 

on  the  stone  and  bending  my  body  in  the 

direction  I  desired  it  to  go,  I  could  make  the 

203 


The  Middle  Five 

missile  reach  the  place  aimed  at.  In  this 
instance,  although  I  did  not  throw  the  clod, 
I  unconsciously  bent  my  body  sidewise, 
keeping  my  eyes  steadily  on  the  lump  of 
earth  to  draw  it  away  from  the  spot  for 
which  it  was  making.  The  two  other  boys 
watched  with  frightened  faces. 

Gray-beard,  with  head  thrown  back,  lips 
parted,  and  chest  expanded,  called, "  Uly — ! " 
when  the  diminutive  planet,  which  I  was 
trying  to  guide  by  my  force  of  will,  struck 
him  in  the  chest,  and  burst  in  a  thousand 
bits.  For  a  moment  there  was  coughing  and 
sputtering ;  then  Gray-beard  drew  out  his 
handkerchief,  dusted  his  beard,  and  his  white 
shirt  front.  He  looked  around  to  see  where 
the  missile  that  struck  him  came  from.  I 
wished  that  we  three  could  sink  into  the 
earth,  or  else  turn  into  nothing,  as  Gray- 
beard's  eyes  rested  upon  us. 

"  Come  here  I "  he  demanded  with  a  vigor 
ous  gesture.  Like  so  many  guilty  curs  we 
walked  up  to  him. 

"  Which   one    of   you  did  it  ? "  he  cried, 
grasping  me  by  the  collar  and  shaking  me 
until  my  teeth  chattered. 
204 


Joe 

Joe  cringed  and  cried;  it  was  a  confes 
sion.  I  was  about  to  say,  "  he  did  n't  mean 
to  do  it ; "  when  the  infuriated  man  turned, 
went  into  the  shop,  and  in  a  moment  came 
back  with  a  piece  of  board. 

"  Hold  out  your  hand ! "  he  said,  address 
ing  the  shrinking  boy. 

Joe  timidly  held  out  his  left  hand,  keep 
ing  his  eyes  all  the  while  on  the  uplifted 
board,  which  came  down  with  force,  but  not 
on  the  little  hand  that  had  been  withdrawn 
to  escape  the  blow.  Gray-beard  sprang  at 
the  boy,  caught  his  hand,  and  attempted  to 
strike  it ;  but  the  boy  pulled  away  and  the 
board  fell  with  a  vicious  thud  on  the  wrist 
of  the  man,  who  now  turned  white  with 
rage.  Catching  a  firm  grip  on  the  hand  of 
the  boy,  Gray -beard  dealt  blow  after  blow 
on  the  visibly  swelling  hand.  The  man 
seemed  to  lose  all  self-control,  gritting  his 
teeth  and  breathing  heavily,  while  the  child 
writhed  with  pain,  turned  blue,  and  lost  his 
breath. 

It  was  a  horrible  sight.  The  scene  in  the 
school-room  when  the  naked  little  boy  was 
first  brought  there  by  the  old  woman  rose. 
205 


The  Middle  Five 

before  me ;  I  heard  the  words  of  the  grand 
mother  as  she  gave  the  boy  to  Gray-beard, 
"  I  beg  that  he  be  kindly  treated ;  that  is  all 
I  ask  ! "  And  she  had  told  the  child  that 
the  White-chests  would  be  kind  to  him. 

Poor  Joe,  I  did  what  I  never  would  have 
done  if  a  boy  of  his  own  size  had  thrashed 
him,  I  took  him  by  the  hand  and  tried  to 
comfort  him,  and  cared  for  his  bruises. 

As  for  Gray-beard,  I  did  not  care  in  the 
least  about  the  violent  shaking  he  had 
given  me ;  but  the  vengeful  way  in  which 
he  fell  upon  that  innocent  boy  created 
in  my  heart  a  hatred  that  was  hard  to 
conquer. 

The  day  was  spoiled  for  me;  I  partly 
blamed  myself  for  it,  though  my  plans  had 
been  to  make  the  two  little  boys  happy,  but 
misery  came  instead.  After  supper  I  slipped 
away  from  my  companions,  and  all  alone  I 
lay  on  the  grass  looking  up  at  the  stars, 
thinking  of  what  had  happened  that  after 
noon.  I  tried  to  reconcile  the  act  of 
Gray -beard  with  the  teachings  of  the  Mis 
sionaries,  but  I  could  not  do  so  from  any 
point  of  view. 

206 


Joe 

All  the  boys  had  come  together  in  the 
yard,  and  some  one  called  out,  "  Let 's  play 
pull."  So  they  divided  into  two  groups, 
grading  each  according  to  the  size  of  the 
boys.  Two  of  the  strongest  were  selected, 
one  from  each  side ;  they  held  a  stout  stick 
between  them,  then  on  each  side  the  boys 
grasped  each  other  around  the  waist.  When 
all  were  ready,  they  began  to  pull,  every  boy 
crying,  "  Hue !  Hue  ! "  as  he  tugged  and 
strained.  In  the  dusk  the  contending  lines 
looked  like  two  great  dark  beasts  tearing  at 
each  other  and  lashing  their  tails  from  side 
to  side.  Bob  and  Joe  were  at  the  very 
end  of  one  side;  Bob  had  tied  a  bit  of 
rope  around  his  waist,  and  Joe  had  hold  of 
that  with  his  only  serviceable  hand.  The 
pulling  lasted  for  quite  a  while;  finally 
one  side  drew  the  other  over  the  mark ; 
the  game  ended,  and  the  boys  noisily 
disbanded. 

"Frank!  Frank!"  I  heard;  it  was  Ed 
win  and  the  rest  of  the  "gang." 

"  Here  I  am,"  I  called  out,  and  they  gath 
ered  around  me. 

"Joe's  hand  is  awful  swelled  up,"  said 
207 


The  Middle  Five 

Bob,  as  he  threw  himself  down  on  the 
grass. 

"  What 's  the  matter  with  him  ?  "  asked 
Warren. 

"  Gray-beard  beat  Joe's  hand  like  every 
thing  ;  he  was  so  mad  I  thought  he  'd  kill 
the  boy."  Then  I  recounted  the  scene, 
adding,  "  I  can't  think  of  anything  else ;  it 
was  awful ! " 

"  Did  he  do  anything  to  you  ? "  asked 
Edwin. 

"  He  shook  me  right  hard  when  he  asked 
me  who  did  it ;  but  when  he  saw  Joe  crying 
he  knew  who  it  was  ;  then  he  let  go  of  me 
and  whipped  him." 

Brush  had  been  listening  to  my  story 
without  a  word;  now  he  arose  and  said, 
"  Boys,  stay  here  till  I  come  back." 

He  went  into  the  house  and  knocked  at 
the  superintendent's  door. 

"  I  'm  glad  to  see  you  Brush,"  said  the 
superintendent,  kindly.  "  Have  you  finished 
the  book,  and  do  you  want  another  ? " 

"  No,  sir ;  I  wish  to  speak  to  you  about 
something  that  happened  to-day,  which  I 
don't  think  is  quite  right,  and  I  thought  you 
208 


Joe 

ought  to  know  about  it."  Then  he  told  in 
a  simple  straightforward  manner  the  story 
of  Joe's  punishment. 

When  Brush  had  finished,  the  superin- 
dent  sent  for  Gray-beard.  For  a  long  time 
the  two  men  talked  earnestly  together.  At 
length  Brush  returned,  and  said,  as  he  took 
his  seat  among  us : 

"  Boys,  that  will  not  happen  again.  Gray- 
beard  says  he  's  sorry  he  did  it,  and  I  be 
lieve  him." 


14  209 


Chapter   XVI 
The    Break 

EUSH !  Brush !  Brush ! "  J  ran  cal1' 
ing  one  morning  soon  after  break 
fast,  down  to  the  barn,  to  the  spring,  and 
back  to  the  house,  but  I  could  not  find  the 
boy;  then  I  thrust  my  fingers  into  my 
mouth  and  blew  a  loud  robin  call,  and  the 
answer  came  from  under  a  tree  up  on  the  hill 
side.  I  ran  hurriedly  to  the  place  ;  there  lay 
Brush  in  the  shade  on  the  green  grass  reading. 

The  occasion  of  this  excited  search  and 
call  was  the  announcement  by  the  superin 
tendent  that  the  school  would  be  closed  that 
day,  and  the  children  dismissed,  so  that  they 
might  go  and  see  their  parents,  it  being  re 
ported  by  an  Indian  who  had  come  for  his 
little  girl  that  the  people  had  just  returned 
from  the  hunt. 

"  I  been  everywhere  trying  to  find  you," 
I  said  to  Brush.  "  My  folks  have  come 
home.  Put  that  old  book  away  and  come 
go  with  me  to  see  them.  There  is  n't  going 
to  be  any  school  to-day." 
210 


The  Break 

"  Frank,  it 's  right  good  of  you  to  ask  me, 
but  I  don't  feel  very  well ;  I  think  I  better 
not  go,"  he  replied,  in  a  tone  of  disappoint 
ment.  "All  my  bones  ache,  and  I  don't 
know  what 's  the  matter  with  me  ;  but  you 
go  'long,  boy,  and  have  a  good  time ;  you  can 
tell  me  all  about  your  visit  when  you  come 
back." 

"  I  'm  sorry  you  can't  go,  Brush ;  but  I  '11 
come  back  soon  and  bring  you  some  buffalo 
meat,"  I  said,  starting  to  go ;  "  you  better 
think  about  it  again  and  come." 

"  I  think  I  better  stay  home  and  be 
quiet,"  he  answered,  opening  his  book. 

I  spent  all  the  forenoon  with  my  parents, 
and  in  the  afternoon  I  went  in  search  of 
some  of  my  village  playmates.  I  found  a 
number  of  them  on  the  hillside  shooting 
with  their  bows  and  arrows.  They  gave  me 
a  noisy  welcome  in  mock  English,  which 
made  me  laugh  heartily ;  then  I  had  to 
wrestle  with  one  or  two  of  them,  and  when 
our  peculiar  greetings  were  over,  the  boys 
resumed  their  play,  in  which  they  let  me 
join,  one  of  them  lending  me  his  bow  and 
arrows. 

211 


The  Middle  Five 

Our  shooting  from  mark  to  mark,  from 
one  prominent  object  to  another,  brought 
us  to  a  high  hill  overlooking  the  ripe  fields 
of  corn  on  the  wide  bottom  below,  along 
the  gray  Missouri.  Here  and  there  among 
the  patches  of  maize  arose  little  curls  of 
blue  smoke,  while  men  and  women  moved 
about  in  their  gayly-colored  costumes  among 
the  broad  green  leaves  of  the  corn ;  some, 
bending  under  great  loads  on  their  backs, 
were  plodding  their  way  laboriously  to  the 
fires  whence  arose  the  pretty  wreaths  of 
smoke. 

"  They  're  making  sweet  corn,"  exclaimed 
one  of  the  youngsters  whose  little  naked 
brown  back  glinted  against  the  afternoon 
sun,  and  he  pointed  to  the  workers  in  the 
field. 

As  we  stood  watching  the  busy,  pictur 
esque  scene  below  us,  one  little  fellow  held 
his  bow  close  to  his  ear  and  began  strum 
ming  on  the  string,  then  all  the  rest  played 
on  their  bows  in  the  same  manner,  until  one 
of  them  suddenly  broke  into  a  victory  song, 
in  which  the  others  joined. 

At  the  close  of  the  song  they  gave  me  a 
212 


The  Break 

graphic  description  of  the  attack  on  the 
camp  when  it  was  pitched  on  the  Kepub- 
lican  river.  Although  the  enemy  was  re 
pulsed,  and  the  hunting  ground  secured  to 
our  people,  the  battle  cost  many  lives,  sev 
eral  of  the  enemy's  warriors  were  left  on  the 
field,  and  the  Omahas  lost  some  of  their 
bravest  men. 

While  yet  the  boys  were  telling  of  the 
thrilling  incidents  of  the  battle,  we  arose 
with  a  sudden  impulse  and  rushed  down 
the  hill  with  loud  war-cries,  as  though 
attacking  the  foe,  the  tall  grass  snapping 
against  our  moccasined  feet  as  we  sped 
along.  We  were  rapidly  approaching  a 
house  which  stood  alone,  when  one  of  the 
older  boys  who  was  running  ahead  suddenly 
stopped  and  raised  his  hand  as  though  to 
command  silence.  Immediately  our  shouts 
ceased,  and,  seeing  the  serious  look  on  the 
lad's  face,  "What  is  it?"  we  asked  in 
frightened  tones  as  we  gathered  about  him. 

Without  a  word  he  pointed  to  a  woman 

who  was  cutting  the  tall  sunflower  stalks 

that  had  almost  hidden  her  little  dwelling 

with  their  golden  blossoms.     Her  long  black 

213 


The  Middle  Five 

hair  flowed  over  her  shoulders  unbraided,  a 
sign  of  mourning.  Now  and  again  she 
would  pause  in  her  work  to  look  up  at  the 
humble  home  and  utter  sighs  and  sobs  that 
told  a  tale  of  sorrow.  Mingled  with  these 
outpourings  of  grief  came  often  the  words, 
"My  husband!  my  little  child!"  with 
terms  of  endearment  and  tenderness  for 
which  I  can  find  no  equivalent  in  English. 
On  a  blanket  spread  over  the  ground  near 
by  sat  a  tot  of  a  child  babbling  to  itself 
and  making  the  beheaded  sunflowers  kiss 
each  other,  innocently  oblivious  of  its 
mother's  grief.  It  was  a  sad  home-coming 
for  the  woman ;  the  spirit  of  her  husband 
had  fled  to  the  dark  clouds  of  the  west  to 
join  the  host  of  warriors  who  had  died  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  his  bones  lay  bleach 
ing  in  the  sands  of  a  far-off  country. 

"  It  is  Gre-don-ste-win  weeping  for  her 
husband  who  was  killed  in  the  battle  last 
summer,"  whispered  the  big  boy ;  "  let  us  go 
away  quietly." 

When  we  had  withdrawn  to  a  distance 
where  we  were  sure  our  noise  would  not 
disturb  the  mourner,  one  of  the  boys  called 
214 


The  Break 

out,  "  Let 's  play  Oo-hae'ba-shon-shon ! " 
(Tortuous  path).  Years  after  I  learned  that 
this  game  was  played  by  the  children  of  the 
white  people,  and  that  they  called  it, "  Follow 
my  leader." 

We  graded  ourselves  according  to  size, 
the  biggest  boy  at  the  head  as  leader.  Each 
one  took  hold  of  the  belt  of  the  boy  in  front 
of  him,  and  then  we  started  off  at  a  rapid 
jog-trot,  keeping  time  to  this  little  song 
which  we  sang  at  the  top  of  our  voices. 

CHILDREN'S   SONG 

"FOLLOW  MY  LEADER." 


Yo  nay        yo    ae         ha    ra    o     ha 


hay     yo     ae          yo    ha    o    ha. 

Whatever  the  leader  did,  all  were  bound 
to  do  likewise.  If  he  touched  a  post,  we 
touched  it  too;  if  he  kicked  the  side  of  a 
tent,  all  of  us  kicked  it ;  so  on  we  went, 
winding  around  the  dwellings,  in  and  out  of 
215 


The  Middle  Five 

vacant  lodges,  through  mud  puddles  and 
queer,  almost  inaccessible  places,  and  even 
entering  the  village,  where  we  made  the 
place  ring  with  our  song. 

At  last,  tired  out,  the  boys  broke  line  and 
scattered  to  their  homes.  It  was  then  that 
I  suddenly  realized  the  lateness  of  the  hour, 
and  remembered  my  promise  to  Brush.  I 
ran  to  the  house,  took  a  hurried  leave  of  my 
parents,  picked  up  the  package  of  buffalo 
meat  my  mother  had  prepared  for  my  school 
mate,  and  fairly  flew  over  the  hill  between 
the  village  and  the  Mission. 

As  I  came  running  down  the  hill  to  the 
school  I  saw  Lester,  Warren,  and  Edwin 
sitting  in  a  row  on  the  fence. 

"Hello!"  I  shouted,  "what  you  sit 
ting  on  that  fence  for,  like  a  lot  of  little 
crows  ? " 

No  answer  came,  nor  did  the  boys  move. 
I  began  to  wonder  if  they  were  displeased 
with  me,  although  I  could  not  think  of  any 
thing  I  had  done  to  give  them  offence.  As  I 
drew  near,  I  noticed  that  the  expression  on 
their  faces  indicated  alarm  rather  than  dis 
pleasure,  and,  becoming  anxious  in  my  turn, 
216 


The  Break 

I   hurriedly   asked,   "What's   the   matter; 
what 's  happened ;  where  's  Brush  ?  " 

The  boys  looked  at  one  another,  then  at 
me ;  finally  Lester  replied,  almost  with  a  sob, 
"  Brush  is  awful  sick ;  he 's  been  raising 
blood  ;  they  sent  for  the  Doctor." 

"Where  is  he?  I  must  go  see  him,"  I 
said,  springing  over  the  fence,  and  starting 
toward  the  house. 

"  He 's  in  that  little  room  next  the  girls' 
play-room ;  but  they  won't  let  anybody  see 
him,"  said  Warren. 

I  went  to  the  room  in  which  Brush  lay, 
and  knocked  very  gently  on  the  door.  There 
was  a  rustling  movement  inside,  then  the 
door  slowly  opened  and  one  of  the  lady 
teachers  stood  before  me. 

"  What  is  it,  Frank  ?  "  she  asked  in  a  low 
tone. 

I  tried  to  look  over  her  shoulder  to  see 
the  bed,  but  she  was  too  tall.  "  I  want  to 
see  Brush  ;  can't  I  see  him  ?  They  say  he 
is  sick.  I  want  to  see  him  a  moment,"  I 
pleaded.  "  I  'm  just  come  back  from  the 
village,  and  brought  some  buffalo  meat  I 
promised  him." 

217 


The  Middle  Five 

"No,  Frank,  you  cannot  see  him,"  was 
the  reply.  "He  is  very  sick.  The  super 
intendent  is  with  him  trying  to  relieve  his 
suffering.  Eun  away  now,"  said  the  lady, 
stroking  my  bare  head  with  her  small  hand. 
"  Don't  make  any  noise,  and  tell  the  rest  of 
the  boys  to  be  very  quiet." 

I  went  away  reproaching  myself  for  not 
coming  back  from  the  village  soon,  as  I 
told  Brush  I  would.  When  I  rejoined  the 
boys,  they  looked  anxiously  into  my  face,  and 
Edwin  asked,  "  Did  you  see  him  ? " 

"No,  they  would  not  let  me."  After  a 
pause,  I  asked,  "  When  did  he  get  sick ;  who 
was  with  him  ?  " 

"  It  was  under  the  walnut-tree,"  said 
Lester ;  "  he  was  reading  to  us  about  Joseph, 
out  of  his  little  black  Bible  he  always 
carries.  He  began  to  cough  hard  and 
choke  ;  he  dropped  the  book  all  covered  with 
blood,  and  took  hold  of  my  brother's  arm. 
I  ran  to  tell  the  superintendent.  Just  as 
they  carried  Brush  into  the  house,  Edwin 
came  back  and  we  told  him  about  it." 

In  the  evening,  after  the  small  boys  had 
gdne  to  bed,  the  doctor  came,  a  tall  gray- 
218 


The  Break 

haired  man.  At  the  gate  he  was  met  by 
the  superintendent,  and  the  two  walked 
slowly  up  the  steps,  talking  earnestly.  We 
four  had  been  watching  for  the  doctor  on 
the  porch ;  as  he  came  along  we  caught  now 
and  then  a  word,  but  we  did  not  understand 
its  meaning.  We  judged  by  the  shaking  of 
the  doctor's  head  that  he  thought  Brush's 
case  was  serious. 

Days  passed  ;  the  doctor  came  and  went ; 
yet  Brush's  door  was  closed  to  us,  nor  had  we 
any  hopeful  news  of  him.  We  missed  him 
sadly  ;  we  missed  his  whittling,  his  harmless 
scolding ;  and  our  play  was  only  half-hearted. 

Indians  who  came  to  the  school  on  busi 
ness  missed  his  ready  offer  of  help.  There  was 
no  one  to  take  his  place  ;  no  one  who  could 
interpret  for  them  as  well  as  he.  Each  one,  as 
he  went  away,  left  a  word  of  cheer  for  the 
lad,  with  expressions  of  hope  for  his  recovery. 

As  school  was  dismissed  one  afternoon, 
the  teacher  gave  special  injunctions  to  the 
scholars  not  to  make  any  noise  as  they 
passed  out,  or  while  moving  about  the 
house,  so  as  not  to  disturb  the  sick  boy. 
We  four  strolled  toward  the  spring.  Frost 
219 


The  Middle  Five 

had  come,  and  the  leaves  were  beginning  to 
turn  red  and  yellow.  Wild  geese  flew  noisily 
overhead,  fleeing  from  the  coming  winter  to 
sunnier  climes.  While  we  were  counting, 
as  we  often  did,  the  gray  birds,  floating 
through  the  air  like  a  great  Y,  Warren  sud 
denly  exclaimed, "  Say,  boys,  plums  ! " 

We  looked  at  him  inquiringly.  "Let's 
go  get  plums  for  Brush ! "  he  continued 
excitedly.  Then  we  remembered  that  we 
had  pre-empted  a  small  grove  of  choice  plum 
bushes  at  the  head  of  the  ravine,  as  against 
all  the  boys  of  the  school,  and  acquired  a 
right  in  it  which  even  the  Big  Seven  re 
spected. 

Edwin  ran  to  the  kitchen  and  borrowed 
from  one  of  the  cooks  a  small  tin  pail.  We 
hurried  to  our  orchard,  where  we  saw  no 
signs  of  trespass  ;  the  bushes  were  laden  with 
beautiful  ripe  fruit.  We  filled  the  little  pail 
with  the  choicest,  then  each  one  picked  for 
himself.  It  was  nearly  supper-time  when 
we  appeared  at  Brush's  door.  The  three 
boys  looked  at  me ;  so  I  tapped  very  gently, 
and  the  teacher  who  was  nursing  the  sick 
boy  opened  the  door. 

220 


The  Break 

"  We  Ve  brought  some  plums  for  Brush," 
I  said,  offering  the  tin  pail. 

"  That 's  very  nice,"  said  the  lady,  softly ; 
"  I  will  give  them  to  him."  She  was  about 
to  close  the  door,  when  I  whispered,  "  Can 
we  take  just  a  little  look  at  him  ? " 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  throwing  the  door 
open. 

We  four  leaned  forward  and  looked  in. 
A  smile  lit  up  Brush's  face  as  he  saw  us. 
"  How  are  you  now  ? "  I  asked,  in  a  loud 
whisper. 

"I'm  all  right,"  he  whispered  back,  al 
though  his  hollow  eyes  and  cheeks  told  a 
tale  that  stole  away  all  our  hopes.  We 
withdrew,  and  the  door  was  slowly  closed. 

Next  morning  as  I  was  coming  down 
from  the  dormitory  I  paused  at  Brush's  door 
to  listen.  I  heard  footsteps  moving  about 
softly,  then  the  door  opened  and  one  of  the 
big  girls  came  out  with  a  white  pitcher  in 
her  hand.  I  started  to  go  on  downstairs, 
when  she  called  to  me  in  a  whisper, 
"  Frank,  go  down  to  the  spring  and  get  some 
fresh  water  for  Brush,  will  you,  that's  a 
good  boy?" 

221 


The  Middle  Five 

I  took  the  pitcher  and  went  quietly  down 
stairs.  As  soon  as  I  was  outside  the  yard, 
I  ran  as  hard  as  I  could  to  the  spring,  glad 
at  the  prospect  of  a  chance  to  see  my  friend 
again.  Warren  and  Lester  met  me  as  I  was 
corning  up  the  hill. 

"  Did  you  see  him  ? "  one  of  them  asked. 

"  No,  but  I  'm  going  to,"  I  answered. 

"  Ask  him  if  we  can  do  anything  for 
him  ? "  said  Lester. 

Just  as  I  reached  the  head  of  the  stairs 
the  same  big  girl  appeared.  I  handed  her 
the  pitcher ;  she  took  it  and  was  about  to 
enter  the  room,  when  I  caught  her  arm. 
"  Just  let  me  take  a  look  at  Brush,  will 
you  ?  "  I  whispered. 

"  No,  Frank,  I  can't.  Superintendent  says 
to  let  nobody  in." 

I  heard  a  cough,  then  a  feeble  voice  say 
pleadingly,  "Maria,  let  him  in,  just  a 
minute  ! " 

The  girl  looked  cautiously  around,  then 
said  to  me,  "Come,  but  don't  let  anybody 
see  you.  Don't  stay  long,  be  quick  ! " 

I  stepped  in,  and  a  thin  hand  was  stretched 
out  to  receive  me.  "  I  can't  talk  much,  I  'm  so 


The  Break 

weak,"  said  Brush.  Overcome  with  emotion, 
I  could  not  speak  but  stood  holding  his  hot 
hand.  The  girl  at  the  door  moved  uneasily. 

"Tell  the  boys  I'm  all  right,"  said 
Brush.  "They  mustn't  worry.  Come 
nearer."  I  bent  over  him  and  he  whispered, 
"  To-night,  when  everybody  is  asleep,  come 
down  and  see  me.  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
when  I  'm  alone." 

As  night  came  on  we  four  sat  under  the 
walnut-tree  watching  Brush's  window.  A 
candle  was  lit,  then  the  curtain  was  drawn. 
Below  in  the  dining-room,  the  large  girls 
moved  quietly  to  and  fro,  busy  with  their 
evening  work.  When  this  was  finished, 
they  gathered  at  the  door,  and  softly  sang 
that  beautiful  hymn,  "  Nearer  my  God  to 
Thee."  We  joined  in  the  chorus,  the  wind 
wafting  the  words  to  the  broad  skies.  The 
singing  came  to  a  close;  the  dining-room 
lights  were  put  out,  and  we  were  called  to  bed. 

As  we  knelt  by  the  side  of  our  beds  to 
repeat  the  Lord's  prayer,  I  could  not  keep 
back  the  tears  that  came,  thinking  of  the 
emaciated  little  form  that  I  was  to  see  once 
more  that  night. 

223 


The  Middle  Five 

One  by  one  the  boys  fell  asleep,  and  I 
alone,  among  the  forty  or  fifty  in  that  big 
room,  remained  awake.  The  clock  down  in 
Gray-beard's  room  struck  eleven;  the  only 
sounds  that  came  to  my  ears  were  those  of 
the  heavy  breathing  of  the  boys,  the  sough 
ing  of  the  wind  through  the  trees,  the  rush 
ing  of  the  waters  in  the  river,  and  now  and 
then  the  calls  of  the  wild  geese,  migrating 
in  the  night. 

The  clock  struck  the  hour  of  twelve;  I 
sat  up  listening.  There  was  a  stir  and  the 
sound  of  a  voice  that  startled  me.  It  was 
only  Warren  moving  and  talking  in  his 
sleep.  I  went  stealthily  to  the  head  of  the 
stairs,  then  listened  again.  I  could  only 
hear  the  throbbing  of  my  heart,  and  the 
rasping  pulsations  in  my  ears.  After  a 
pause  which  seemed  interminable,  I  put  one 
foot  down  the  first  step,  the  board  sprang 
under  my  weight,  and  creaked.  Again  I 
paused  to  listen ;  there  was  no  stir,  and  I 
went  on.  Every  little  sound  in  the  stillness 
of  the  night  seemed  exaggerated,  and  I  was 
often  startled,  but  I  went  on  and  reached  the 
door  of  Brush's  room.  I  scratched  the  panel 
224 


The  Break 

three  times.  There  was  a  movement  with 
in,  and  a  slight  cough.  Slowly  I  turned  the 
knob  and  opened  the  door.  I  entered, 
closed  the  door,  but  left  it  unlatched. 

A  candle  stood  burning  in  the  midst  of  a 
number  of  bottles  on  a  little  table  near  the 
head  of  the  bed.  I  knelt  by  the  bedside, 
and  Brush  put  his  arm  around  my  neck. 
We  were  silent  for  a  while,  finally  he  whis 
pered  in  the  Omaha  tongue : 

"  I  'm  glad  you  came ;  I  Ve  been  wanting 
to  talk  to  you.  They  tell  me  I  am  better ; 
but  I  know  I  am  dying." 

Oppressed  with  ominous  dread,  I  cried 
out,  interrupting  him,  "  Don't  say  that !  Oh, 
don't  say  that ! " 

But  he  went  on,  "You  mustn't  be 
troubled ;  I  'm  all  right ;  I  'm  not  afraid ;  I 
know  God  will  take  care  of  me.  I  have 
wanted  to  stay  with  you  boys,  but  I  can't. 
You  Ve  all  been  good  to  me.  My  strength 
is  going,  I  must  hurry,  —  tell  the  boys  I 
want  them  to  learn  ;  I  know  you  will,  but  the 
other  boys  don't  care.  I  want  them  to  learn, 
and  to  think.  You  '11  tell  them,  won 't  you  ? " 

He  slipped  his  hand  under  the  pillow, 
15  225 


The  Middle  Five 

brought  out  his  broken-bladed  jack-knife, 
and  put  it  in  my  hand,  then  said,  "  I  wish 
I  had  something  to  give  to  each  one  of  the 
boys  before  I  go.  I  have  nothing  in  the 
world  but  this  knife.  I  love  all  of  you ;  but 
you  understand  me,  so  I  give  it  to  you. 
That 's  all.  Let  me  rest  a  little,  then  you 
must  go." 

After  a  moment's  stillness  the  door  opened 
very  gently,  and  the  floor  near  it  creaked  as 
though  there  were  footsteps.  A  breath  of 
wind  came  and  moved  the  flickering  flame 
of  the  candle  round  and  round.  The  boy 
stared  fixedly  through  the  vacant  doorway. 
There  was  something  strange  and  unnatural 
in  his  look  as,  with  one  arm  still  around 
me,  he  stretched  the  other  toward  the  door, 
and,  in  a  loud  whisper,  said,  "  My  grand 
father!  He  calls  me.  I'm  coming,  I'm 
coming ! " 

There  was  a  sound  as  of  a  movement 
around  the  room ;  Brush's  eyes  followed  it 
until  they  again  rested  upon  the  open  door, 
which  swung  to  with  a  soft  click;  then  he 
closed  his  eyes. 

I  crept  closer  to  the  sick  boy ;  I  was  quiv- 
226 


The  Break 

ering  with  fear.  Brush  opened  his  eyes 
again,  he  had  felt  me  trembling.  "  Are  you 
cold  ? "  he  asked. 

Just  then  I  heard  footsteps  in  the  girls' 
play-room ;  this  time  they  were  real ;  Brush 
heard  them  too. 

"  Superintendent,"  he  said  with  an  effort. 

When  I  crept  into  my  bed  the  clock 
below  struck  one.  For  a  long  while  I  lay 
awake.  I  could  hear  noises  downstairs, 
Gray-beard's  door  open  and  close,  and  the 
door  of  Brush's  room.  I  heard  a  window 
raised,  then  everything  became  still. 

We  did  not  know  how  fondly  we  were 
attached  to  Brush,  how  truly  he  had  been 
our  leader,  until  we  four,  left  alone,  lingered 
around  his  grave  in  the  shadowy  darkness 
of  night,  each  one  reluctant  to  leave. 

The  Mission  bell  rang  for  evening  service, 
and  with  slow  steps  we  moved  toward  the 
school  —  no  longer  "  The  Middle  Five." 


227 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


4<X 


29  1936 


cur  2  c  sse 


R^urnedby 


JUL  1  0  1986 


LD 


StP  15 


DEPT. 


fan, 


VI  02724 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


